ZIP 55786 vs ZIP 55722

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55786 (Taconite, MN) and ZIP 55722 (Coleraine, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55786 has a population of 305 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 55722 has 1,200 at 173 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 55786 reports a median household income of $61,597 against $68,636 in ZIP 55722, with per-capita income of $41,767 vs $31,421. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.3% in 55786 and 30.3% in 55722. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.8% — 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 $127,100 in 55786 versus $165,400 in 55722, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.8% vs 89.1%. 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.