ZIP 54914 vs ZIP 54942

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54914 (Appleton, WI) and ZIP 54942 (Greenville, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54914 has a population of 30,475 at 661 people per square mile, while ZIP 54942 has 8,580 at 161 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 54914 reports a median household income of $79,875 against $119,508 in ZIP 54942, with per-capita income of $56,720 vs $49,734. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.5% in 54914 and 44.9% in 54942. Poverty rate reads 7.9% vs 1.1%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.9% — 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 $237,400 in 54914 versus $355,900 in 54942, with median rent of $989 and $1,197 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.9% vs 90.5%. 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.