ZIP 54656 vs ZIP 54660

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54656 (Sparta, WI) and ZIP 54660 (Tomah, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54656 has a population of 17,377 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 54660 has 15,688 at 40 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 54656 reports a median household income of $72,379 against $61,186 in ZIP 54660, with per-capita income of $37,493 vs $37,054. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.1% in 54656 and 23.4% in 54660. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 14.0%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 3.4% - 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 $214,400 in 54656 versus $197,200 in 54660, with median rent of $938 and $910 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.1% vs 66.5%. 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.