ZIP 54657 vs ZIP 53826

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54657 (Steuben, WI) and ZIP 53826 (Wauzeka, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54657 has a population of 411 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 53826 has 1,332 at 7 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 54657 reports a median household income of $70,750 against $73,438 in ZIP 53826, with per-capita income of $33,775 vs $32,277. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 54657 and 16.7% in 53826. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 11.5% vs 4.2% — 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 $180,600 in 54657 versus $173,200 in 53826, with median rent of $817 and $690 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 79.0%. 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.