ZIP 54501 vs ZIP 54548

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54501 (Rhinelander, WI) and ZIP 54548 (Minocqua, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54501 has a population of 20,019 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 54548 has 4,626 at 20 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 54501 reports a median household income of $68,163 against $69,569 in ZIP 54548, with per-capita income of $38,947 vs $51,650. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8% in 54501 and 31.7% in 54548. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 2.7% — 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 $203,900 in 54501 versus $336,400 in 54548, with median rent of $828 and $962 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.9% vs 74.2%. 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.