ZIP 54636 vs ZIP 54650

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54636 (Holmen, WI) and ZIP 54650 (Onalaska, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54636 has a population of 13,737 at 64 people per square mile, while ZIP 54650 has 23,377 at 290 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 54636 reports a median household income of $96,384 against $85,548 in ZIP 54650, with per-capita income of $45,525 vs $49,799. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.9% in 54636 and 40.5% in 54650. Poverty rate reads 4.4% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $321,500 in 54636 versus $291,600 in 54650, with median rent of $1,160 and $1,147 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.4% vs 68.0%. 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.