ZIP 55748 vs ZIP 55785

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55748 (Hill City, MN) and ZIP 55785 (Swatara, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55748 has a population of 1,476 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 55785 has 263 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 55748 reports a median household income of $53,810 against $56,477 in ZIP 55785, with per-capita income of $30,070 vs $24,258. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.8% in 55748 and 6.0% in 55785. Poverty rate reads 18.3% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 12.4% vs 3.1% — 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 $201,300 in 55748 versus $181,500 in 55785, with median rent of $765 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.5% vs 92.3%. 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.