ZIP 55366 vs ZIP 55312

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55366 (New Auburn, MN) and ZIP 55312 (Brownton, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55366 has a population of 443 at 257 people per square mile, while ZIP 55312 has 1,595 at 9 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 55366 reports a median household income of $72,500 against $100,568 in ZIP 55312, with per-capita income of $37,021 vs $41,134. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 55366 and 13.0% in 55312. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 5.6%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 2.6% — 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 $158,300 in 55366 versus $236,300 in 55312, with median rent of $738 and $890 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.5% vs 89.2%. 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.