ZIP 53047 vs ZIP 53098

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53047 (Lebanon, WI) and ZIP 53098 (Watertown, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53047 has a population of 78 at 185 people per square mile, while ZIP 53098 has 11,965 at 45 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 53047 reports a median household income of $47,000 against $74,431 in ZIP 53098, with per-capita income of $33,752 vs $38,089. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.4% in 53047 and 17.6% in 53098. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 21.7% vs 5.2% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $295,300 in 53047 versus $253,600 in 53098, with median rent of $765 and $1,134 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.0% vs 67.2%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.