ZIP 54826 vs ZIP 54889

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54826 (Comstock, WI) and ZIP 54889 (Turtle Lake, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54826 has a population of 807 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 54889 has 2,742 at 15 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 54826 reports a median household income of $94,750 against $77,143 in ZIP 54889, with per-capita income of $51,891 vs $45,345. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 54826 and 25.7% in 54889. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 1.7% — 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 $266,700 in 54826 versus $257,100 in 54889, with median rent of $986 and $846 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.4% vs 80.2%. 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.