ZIP 53916 vs ZIP 53963

This side-by-side compares ZIP 53916 (Beaver Dam, WI) and ZIP 53963 (Waupun, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 53916 has a population of 22,507 at 87 people per square mile, while ZIP 53963 has 13,910 at 64 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 53916 reports a median household income of $71,188 against $77,631 in ZIP 53963, with per-capita income of $41,279 vs $32,765. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.7% in 53916 and 16.5% in 53963. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 13.3%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 2.3% — 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 $220,300 in 53916 versus $208,600 in 53963, with median rent of $959 and $950 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.0% vs 71.6%. 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.