ZIP 53154 vs ZIP 53172

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53154 (Oak Creek, WI) and ZIP 53172 (South Milwaukee, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53154 has a population of 34,451 at 467 people per square mile, while ZIP 53172 has 21,156 at 1,692 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 53154 reports a median household income of $96,555 against $73,427 in ZIP 53172, with per-capita income of $48,445 vs $36,937. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.4% in 53154 and 29.9% in 53172. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 3.6% — 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 $331,700 in 53154 versus $235,700 in 53172, with median rent of $1,452 and $1,014 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.5% vs 66.8%. 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.