ZIP 55082 vs ZIP 54082

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55082 (Stillwater, MN) and ZIP 54082 (Houlton, WI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55082 has a population of 35,024 at 173 people per square mile, while ZIP 54082 has 1,696 at 48 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 55082 reports a median household income of $115,040 against $131,146 in ZIP 54082, with per-capita income of $64,536 vs $66,449. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.6% in 55082 and 50.9% in 54082. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 3.5%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 1.8% — 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 $474,400 in 55082 versus $476,200 in 54082, with median rent of $1,563 and $3,020 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.0% vs 85.3%. 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.