ZIP 54659 vs ZIP 54616

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54659 (Taylor, WI) and ZIP 54616 (Blair, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54659 has a population of 1,409 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 54616 has 2,601 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 54659 reports a median household income of $71,477 against $72,222 in ZIP 54616, with per-capita income of $31,913 vs $38,770. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.9% in 54659 and 18.2% in 54616. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 3.1% — 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 $191,200 in 54659 versus $180,900 in 54616, with median rent of $882 and $828 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.8% vs 73.7%. 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.