ZIP 54956 vs ZIP 54915

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54956 (Neenah, WI) and ZIP 54915 (Appleton, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54956 has a population of 42,696 at 269 people per square mile, while ZIP 54915 has 41,855 at 1,029 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 54956 reports a median household income of $85,869 against $87,426 in ZIP 54915, with per-capita income of $48,289 vs $43,615. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.4% in 54956 and 38.3% in 54915. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 8.3%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 4.0% — 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 $256,900 in 54956 versus $269,700 in 54915, with median rent of $1,058 and $1,028 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.2% vs 71.9%. 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.