ZIP 55357 vs ZIP 55341

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55357 (Loretto, MN) and ZIP 55341 (Hanover, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55357 has a population of 3,246 at 66 people per square mile, while ZIP 55341 has 2,850 at 232 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 55357 reports a median household income of $152,500 against $157,071 in ZIP 55341, with per-capita income of $69,280 vs $55,018. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.4% in 55357 and 53.5% in 55341. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 0.6%, and unemployment 0.6% vs 1.3% — 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 $530,200 in 55357 versus $450,300 in 55341, with median rent of $628 and $1,853 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.1% vs 92.8%. 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.