ZIP 53528 vs ZIP 53562

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53528 (Cross Plains, WI) and ZIP 53562 (Middleton, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53528 has a population of 5,734 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 53562 has 23,627 at 286 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 53528 reports a median household income of $106,823 against $101,381 in ZIP 53562, with per-capita income of $56,807 vs $64,683. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.7% in 53528 and 65.1% in 53562. Poverty rate reads 2.4% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 2.5% — 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 $436,100 in 53528 versus $532,200 in 53562, with median rent of $1,423 and $1,484 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.0% vs 53.4%. 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.