ZIP 55962 vs ZIP 55971

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55962 (Peterson, MN) and ZIP 55971 (Rushford, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55962 has a population of 763 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 55971 has 2,993 at 14 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 55962 reports a median household income of $76,667 against $88,750 in ZIP 55971, with per-capita income of $38,887 vs $37,534. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.4% in 55962 and 27.7% in 55971. Poverty rate reads 13.8% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 2.9% — 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 $286,100 in 55962 versus $231,700 in 55971, with median rent of $630 and $883 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.4% vs 79.6%. 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.