ZIP 54858 vs ZIP 54853

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54858 (Milltown, WI) and ZIP 54853 (Luck, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54858 has a population of 1,518 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 54853 has 4,009 at 17 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 54858 reports a median household income of $53,901 against $75,000 in ZIP 54853, with per-capita income of $30,235 vs $43,005. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.9% in 54858 and 23.9% in 54853. Poverty rate reads 20.5% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 3.3% — 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 $213,100 in 54858 versus $245,100 in 54853, with median rent of $756 and $850 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.7% vs 83.6%. 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.