ZIP 54810 vs ZIP 54001

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54810 (Balsam Lake, WI) and ZIP 54001 (Amery, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54810 has a population of 2,512 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 54001 has 8,155 at 27 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 54810 reports a median household income of $69,917 against $80,344 in ZIP 54001, with per-capita income of $40,035 vs $44,300. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.0% in 54810 and 28.6% in 54001. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 4.8%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 1.4% — 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 $271,600 in 54810 versus $286,800 in 54001, with median rent of $1,003 and $1,115 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.0% vs 81.0%. 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.