ZIP 53190 vs ZIP 53121

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53190 (Whitewater, WI) and ZIP 53121 (Elkhorn, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53190 has a population of 19,200 at 55 people per square mile, while ZIP 53121 has 19,045 at 64 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 53190 reports a median household income of $66,069 against $85,643 in ZIP 53121, with per-capita income of $30,665 vs $46,804. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.3% in 53190 and 32.6% in 53121. Poverty rate reads 20.9% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 1.7% - 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 $265,100 in 53190 versus $313,500 in 53121, with median rent of $1,041 and $1,054 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.9% vs 72.1%. 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.