ZIP 53501 vs ZIP 53511

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53501 (Afton, WI) and ZIP 53511 (Beloit, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53501 has a population of 23 at 136 people per square mile, while ZIP 53511 has 48,929 at 171 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 53501 reports a median household income of - against $67,067 in ZIP 53511, with per-capita income of - vs $33,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 53501 and 19.4% in 53511. Poverty rate reads 48.5% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.9% - 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 - in 53501 versus $173,500 in 53511, with median rent of - and $1,057 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 0.0% vs 65.9%. 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.