ZIP 55901 vs ZIP 55904

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55901 (Rochester, MN) and ZIP 55904 (Rochester, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55901 has a population of 51,917 at 671 people per square mile, while ZIP 55904 has 26,332 at 164 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 55901 reports a median household income of $94,607 against $77,016 in ZIP 55904, with per-capita income of $48,948 vs $41,683. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 51.1% in 55901 and 37.6% in 55904. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 2.8% — 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 $317,000 in 55901 versus $253,600 in 55904, with median rent of $1,403 and $1,304 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.3% vs 64.3%. 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.