ZIP 54082 vs ZIP 55003

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54082 (Houlton, WI) and ZIP 55003 (Bayport, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54082 has a population of 1,696 at 48 people per square mile, while ZIP 55003 has 3,471 at 641 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 54082 reports a median household income of $131,146 against $125,893 in ZIP 55003, with per-capita income of $66,449 vs $39,178. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.9% in 54082 and 27.5% in 55003. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 1.8% — 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 $476,200 in 54082 versus $376,900 in 55003, with median rent of $3,020 and $2,028 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.3% vs 91.7%. 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.