ZIP 55309 vs ZIP 55308

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55309 (Big Lake, MN) and ZIP 55308 (Becker, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55309 has a population of 18,208 at 107 people per square mile, while ZIP 55308 has 9,064 at 56 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 55309 reports a median household income of $121,711 against $106,510 in ZIP 55308, with per-capita income of $48,185 vs $38,962. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.8% in 55309 and 27.2% in 55308. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 5.4% — 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 $361,100 in 55309 versus $337,500 in 55308, with median rent of $1,408 and $869 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.6% vs 87.9%. 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.