ZIP code 54520

ZIP 54520 is a small town in Forest County, Wisconsin, with 3,866 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #317 of 783 ranked by population — larger than 59% of them. The median age here is 44.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 54520 earn a median of $58,493 a year, 25.5% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 16.1% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 54520 is valued at $165,900, 45.3% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $570 a month, 59.5% below the national figure, or roughly $6,840 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 11.7% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 74% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 54520 is tabulated inside Forest County, Wisconsin, one of 7 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 783 across Wisconsin. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 54520 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 54520 reports a median household income of $58,493, 7% above the $54,762 county median, and 20% below the $73,420 typical WI ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $165,900, close to the county figure and 23% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $570 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Wisconsin charges 5% statewide, and local governments overlapping 54520 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 54520 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.