ZIP 54456 vs ZIP 54754

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54456 (Neillsville, WI) and ZIP 54754 (Merrillan, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54456 has a population of 6,085 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 54754 has 1,552 at 7 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 54456 reports a median household income of $66,934 against $58,125 in ZIP 54754, with per-capita income of $35,211 vs $38,054. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.8% in 54456 and 17.9% in 54754. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 11.5%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 11.3% — 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 $174,500 in 54456 versus $170,200 in 54754, with median rent of $778 and $828 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.0% vs 83.7%. 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.