ZIP 54874 vs ZIP 54842

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54874 (South Range, WI) and ZIP 54842 (Hawthorne, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54874 has a population of 3,646 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 54842 has 185 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 54874 reports a median household income of $89,063 against $88,750 in ZIP 54842, with per-capita income of $39,796 vs $24,697. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.0% in 54874 and 23.2% in 54842. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 15.4%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 13.0% — 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 $218,900 in 54874 versus $264,100 in 54842, with median rent of $953 and $925 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.4% vs 91.0%. 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.