ZIP 54423 vs ZIP 54482

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54423 (Custer, WI) and ZIP 54482 (Stevens Point, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54423 has a population of 2,343 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 54482 has 8,955 at 38 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 54423 reports a median household income of $113,690 against $94,500 in ZIP 54482, with per-capita income of $49,194 vs $47,214. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.5% in 54423 and 33.1% in 54482. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 0.3% vs 1.7% — 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 $329,100 in 54423 versus $288,900 in 54482, with median rent of $888 and $995 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.7% vs 82.0%. 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.