ZIP 53202 vs ZIP 53203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53202 (Milwaukee, WI) and ZIP 53203 (Milwaukee, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53202 has a population of 23,386 at 4,278 people per square mile, while ZIP 53203 has 938 at 808 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 53202 reports a median household income of $71,034 against $86,159 in ZIP 53203, with per-capita income of $66,952 vs $79,234. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 67.9% in 53202 and 73.0% in 53203. Poverty rate reads 15.9% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 1.9% — 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 $340,800 in 53202 versus — in 53203, with median rent of $1,259 and $1,788 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 21.4% vs 11.7%. 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.