ZIP 55060 vs ZIP 55049

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55060 (Owatonna, MN) and ZIP 55049 (Medford, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55060 has a population of 28,911 at 55 people per square mile, while ZIP 55049 has 2,476 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 55060 reports a median household income of $84,906 against $90,625 in ZIP 55049, with per-capita income of $42,145 vs $40,500. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.7% in 55060 and 22.0% in 55049. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 2.9% — 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 $251,100 in 55060 versus $247,800 in 55049, with median rent of $1,069 and $1,302 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.2% vs 86.0%. 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.