ZIP 54456 vs ZIP 54771

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54456 (Neillsville, WI) and ZIP 54771 (Thorp, 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 54771 has 4,286 at 11 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 $65,625 in ZIP 54771, with per-capita income of $35,211 vs $33,155. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.8% in 54456 and 10.9% in 54771. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 2.4% — 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 $186,400 in 54771, with median rent of $778 and $805 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.0% vs 81.7%. 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.