ZIP 53589 vs ZIP 53558

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53589 (Stoughton, WI) and ZIP 53558 (Mc Farland, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53589 has a population of 19,427 at 89 people per square mile, while ZIP 53558 has 10,742 at 239 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 53589 reports a median household income of $96,226 against $107,609 in ZIP 53558, with per-capita income of $54,176 vs $56,390. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.1% in 53589 and 50.2% in 53558. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 3.8%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $341,000 in 53589 versus $405,300 in 53558, with median rent of $1,148 and $1,550 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.7% vs 77.0%. 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.