ZIP 54961 vs ZIP 54922

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54961 (New London, WI) and ZIP 54922 (Bear Creek, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54961 has a population of 14,266 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 54922 has 1,514 at 12 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 54961 reports a median household income of $71,824 against $76,350 in ZIP 54922, with per-capita income of $44,908 vs $46,494. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.2% in 54961 and 14.0% in 54922. Poverty rate reads 13.5% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 2.7% vs 2.2% — 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 $221,400 in 54961 versus $218,100 in 54922, with median rent of $865 and $1,044 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.7% vs 81.6%. 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.