ZIP 54801 vs ZIP 54871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54801 (Spooner, WI) and ZIP 54871 (Shell Lake, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54801 has a population of 6,493 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 54871 has 3,105 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 54801 reports a median household income of $62,625 against $69,342 in ZIP 54871, with per-capita income of $39,347 vs $38,648. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.6% in 54801 and 29.6% in 54871. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 8.3%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 1.8% — 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 $216,500 in 54801 versus $241,000 in 54871, with median rent of $800 and $644 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.2% vs 84.6%. 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.