ZIP 55066 vs ZIP 54014

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55066 (Red Wing, MN) and ZIP 54014 (Hager City, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55066 has a population of 18,564 at 60 people per square mile, while ZIP 54014 has 2,232 at 20 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 55066 reports a median household income of $73,584 against $101,667 in ZIP 54014, with per-capita income of $42,916 vs $49,120. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.3% in 55066 and 25.6% in 54014. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 5.2% — 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 $250,500 in 55066 versus $302,900 in 54014, with median rent of $973 and $1,065 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.4% vs 90.1%. 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.