ZIP 53901 vs ZIP 53555

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53901 (Portage, WI) and ZIP 53555 (Lodi, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53901 has a population of 14,445 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 53555 has 8,465 at 41 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 53901 reports a median household income of $74,092 against $119,305 in ZIP 53555, with per-capita income of $35,973 vs $56,858. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.6% in 53901 and 39.0% in 53555. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 2.8% — 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 $227,700 in 53901 versus $392,200 in 53555, with median rent of $1,012 and $1,352 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.9% vs 86.8%. 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.