ZIP 53562 vs ZIP 53717

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53562 (Middleton, WI) and ZIP 53717 (Madison, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53562 has a population of 23,627 at 286 people per square mile, while ZIP 53717 has 11,962 at 1,267 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 53562 reports a median household income of $101,381 against $98,180 in ZIP 53717, with per-capita income of $64,683 vs $63,762. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.1% in 53562 and 65.3% in 53717. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 2.5% 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 $532,200 in 53562 versus $415,100 in 53717, with median rent of $1,484 and $1,468 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.4% vs 53.3%. 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.