ZIP 53168 vs ZIP 53170

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53168 (Salem, WI) and ZIP 53170 (Silver Lake, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53168 has a population of 8,643 at 95 people per square mile, while ZIP 53170 has 2,380 at 897 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 53168 reports a median household income of $97,035 against $79,931 in ZIP 53170, with per-capita income of $54,885 vs $40,197. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.8% in 53168 and 23.5% in 53170. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 3.0% 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 $300,200 in 53168 versus $284,400 in 53170, with median rent of $1,303 and $1,119 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.3% vs 84.7%. 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.