ZIP 54728 vs ZIP 54822

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54728 (Chetek, WI) and ZIP 54822 (Cameron, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54728 has a population of 6,139 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 54822 has 4,516 at 37 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 54728 reports a median household income of $74,712 against $70,000 in ZIP 54822, with per-capita income of $38,493 vs $40,320. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 54728 and 23.7% in 54822. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 7.2%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 1.6% — 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 $224,400 in 54728 versus $235,700 in 54822, with median rent of $945 and $959 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 80.5%. 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.