ZIP 53167 vs ZIP 53185

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53167 (Rochester, WI) and ZIP 53185 (Waterford, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53167 has a population of 399 at 722 people per square mile, while ZIP 53185 has 18,551 at 156 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 53167 reports a median household income of $70,054 against $103,225 in ZIP 53185, with per-capita income of $32,195 vs $52,260. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 53167 and 33.5% in 53185. Poverty rate reads 0.6% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.1% — 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 $345,200 in 53167 versus $384,600 in 53185, with median rent of — and $1,212 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs 82.9%. 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.