ZIP 54888 vs ZIP 54801

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54888 (Trego, WI) and ZIP 54801 (Spooner, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54888 has a population of 1,345 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 54801 has 6,493 at 13 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 54888 reports a median household income of $63,971 against $62,625 in ZIP 54801, with per-capita income of $41,136 vs $39,347. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.4% in 54888 and 26.6% in 54801. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 5.6% — 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 $240,500 in 54888 versus $216,500 in 54801, with median rent of $768 and $800 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.5% vs 76.2%. 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.