ZIP 54026 vs ZIP 54017

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54026 (Star Prairie, WI) and ZIP 54017 (New Richmond, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54026 has a population of 1,809 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 54017 has 16,743 at 47 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 54026 reports a median household income of $95,833 against $98,571 in ZIP 54017, with per-capita income of $48,405 vs $41,857. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.4% in 54026 and 33.8% in 54017. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 2.9% — 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 $342,200 in 54026 versus $321,700 in 54017, with median rent of $1,308 and $1,225 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.1% vs 75.5%. 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.