ZIP 54843 vs ZIP 54876

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54843 (Hayward, WI) and ZIP 54876 (Stone Lake, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54843 has a population of 11,487 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 54876 has 1,551 at 6 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 54843 reports a median household income of $60,619 against $72,794 in ZIP 54876, with per-capita income of $38,665 vs $43,571. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.7% in 54843 and 26.3% in 54876. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 2.5% - 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 $243,400 in 54843 versus $282,100 in 54876, with median rent of $707 and $910 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.8% vs 82.2%. 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.