ZIP 55724 vs ZIP 55766

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55724 (Cotton, MN) and ZIP 55766 (Melrude, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55724 has a population of 741 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 55766 has 43 at 1 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 55724 reports a median household income of $75,313 against — in ZIP 55766, with per-capita income of $44,174 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.9% in 55724 and — in 55766. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs —, and unemployment 3.1% vs — — 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 $226,600 in 55724 versus — in 55766, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.4% vs —. 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.