ZIP 54979 vs ZIP 54902

This side-by-side compares ZIP 54979 (Van Dyne, WI) and ZIP 54902 (Oshkosh, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 54979 has a population of 1,472 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 54902 has 22,375 at 246 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 54979 reports a median household income of $109,868 against $65,612 in ZIP 54902, with per-capita income of $35,765 vs $37,130. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.0% in 54979 and 27.9% in 54902. Poverty rate reads 1.0% vs 15.1%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 1.6% — 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 $295,000 in 54979 versus $170,800 in 54902, with median rent of $1,365 and $896 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.8% vs 62.0%. 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.