ZIP 55757 vs ZIP 55783

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55757 (Kettle River, MN) and ZIP 55783 (Sturgeon Lake, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55757 has a population of 866 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 55783 has 2,437 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 55757 reports a median household income of $61,538 against $82,421 in ZIP 55783, with per-capita income of $33,778 vs $41,205. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.9% in 55757 and 22.9% in 55783. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 7.6%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 4.3% — 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 $214,700 in 55757 versus $267,000 in 55783, with median rent of $833 and $1,200 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.8% vs 86.7%. 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.