ZIP 55123 vs ZIP 55121

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55123 (Saint Paul, MN) and ZIP 55121 (Saint Paul, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55123 has a population of 26,030 at 913 people per square mile, while ZIP 55121 has 7,861 at 336 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 55123 reports a median household income of $139,215 against $87,152 in ZIP 55121, with per-capita income of $66,423 vs $51,298. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.4% in 55123 and 44.4% in 55121. Poverty rate reads 3.7% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 2.0% — 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 $461,200 in 55123 versus $301,400 in 55121, with median rent of $1,654 and $1,723 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 41.1%. 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.