ZIP 55780 vs ZIP 55726

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55780 (Sawyer, MN) and ZIP 55726 (Cromwell, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55780 has a population of 212 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 55726 has 1,045 at 4 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 55780 reports a median household income of $76,042 against $80,313 in ZIP 55726, with per-capita income of $25,280 vs $33,141. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.6% in 55780 and 25.2% in 55726. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 2.6% 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 $193,800 in 55780 versus $227,300 in 55726, with median rent of $800 and $625 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.3% vs 78.0%. 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.