ZIP 55041 vs ZIP 55026

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55041 (Lake City, MN) and ZIP 55026 (Frontenac, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55041 has a population of 7,601 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 55026 has 455 at 32 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 55041 reports a median household income of $78,672 against $96,667 in ZIP 55026, with per-capita income of $43,876 vs $49,574. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.3% in 55041 and 28.1% in 55026. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 3.0%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 8.8% — 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 $275,200 in 55041 versus $288,200 in 55026, with median rent of $881 and $1,643 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.8% vs 90.2%. 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.