ZIP 53522 vs ZIP 61089

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53522 (Browntown, WI) and ZIP 61089 (Winslow, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53522 has a population of 1,085 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 61089 has 867 at 8 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 53522 reports a median household income of $81,528 against $66,250 in ZIP 61089, with per-capita income of $46,933 vs $32,383. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 53522 and 14.6% in 61089. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 19.6%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 5.0% — 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 $205,300 in 53522 versus $115,900 in 61089, with median rent of $950 and $830 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 77.7%. 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.