ZIP 54235 vs ZIP 54204

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54235 (Sturgeon Bay, WI) and ZIP 54204 (Brussels, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54235 has a population of 17,203 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 54204 has 1,819 at 15 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 54235 reports a median household income of $70,212 against $79,803 in ZIP 54204, with per-capita income of $50,750 vs $44,377. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.4% in 54235 and 31.3% in 54204. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 5.8%, and unemployment 2.6% 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 $297,300 in 54235 versus $379,800 in 54204, with median rent of $1,086 and $950 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.5% vs 90.0%. 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.