ZIP 55020 vs ZIP 55054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55020 (Elko New Market, MN) and ZIP 55054 (Elko New Market, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55020 has a population of 3,717 at 58 people per square mile, while ZIP 55054 has 2,171 at 695 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 55020 reports a median household income of $131,071 against $157,096 in ZIP 55054, with per-capita income of $53,372 vs $51,785. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.8% in 55020 and 45.5% in 55054. Poverty rate reads 0.7% vs 1.8%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $455,500 in 55020 versus $433,100 in 55054, with median rent of — and $2,200 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 99.0% vs 92.1%. 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.