ZIP 55961 vs ZIP 55951

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55961 (Ostrander, MN) and ZIP 55951 (Le Roy, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55961 has a population of 447 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 55951 has 1,567 at 8 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 55961 reports a median household income of $98,214 against $61,131 in ZIP 55951, with per-capita income of $36,648 vs $40,807. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.6% in 55961 and 18.7% in 55951. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 1.2% — 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 $172,200 in 55961 versus $168,800 in 55951, with median rent of $761 and $746 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 82.8%. 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.