ZIP 54644 vs ZIP 54642

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54644 (Mindoro, WI) and ZIP 54642 (Melrose, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54644 has a population of 1,434 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 54642 has 2,125 at 9 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 54644 reports a median household income of $77,143 against $73,452 in ZIP 54642, with per-capita income of $37,987 vs $37,757. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.3% in 54644 and 18.3% in 54642. Poverty rate reads 11.7% vs 15.5%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 3.6% — 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 $256,500 in 54644 versus $210,600 in 54642, with median rent of — and $872 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 99.1% vs 84.1%. 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.