ZIP 54534 vs ZIP 54550

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54534 (Hurley, WI) and ZIP 54550 (Montreal, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54534 has a population of 2,459 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 54550 has 685 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 54534 reports a median household income of $53,468 against $64,583 in ZIP 54550, with per-capita income of $36,261 vs $37,454. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 54534 and 24.2% in 54550. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 11.2%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 1.9% - 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 $123,600 in 54534 versus $112,200 in 54550, with median rent of $688 and $813 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.9% vs 95.3%. 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.