ZIP 55117 vs ZIP 55130

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55117 (Saint Paul, MN) and ZIP 55130 (Saint Paul, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55117 has a population of 41,649 at 1,737 people per square mile, while ZIP 55130 has 17,575 at 3,419 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 55117 reports a median household income of $70,771 against $54,130 in ZIP 55130, with per-capita income of $33,179 vs $23,599. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.5% in 55117 and 20.2% in 55130. Poverty rate reads 17.8% vs 24.4%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 4.4% — 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 $280,500 in 55117 versus $236,000 in 55130, with median rent of $1,194 and $1,183 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.3% vs 46.0%. 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.