ZIP 55974 vs ZIP 55954

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55974 (Spring Grove, MN) and ZIP 55954 (Mabel, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55974 has a population of 2,132 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 55954 has 1,442 at 9 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 55974 reports a median household income of $59,205 against $66,250 in ZIP 55954, with per-capita income of $36,603 vs $35,316. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.6% in 55974 and 18.5% in 55954. Poverty rate reads 5.2% vs 9.9%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 2.3% — 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 $186,300 in 55974 versus $159,600 in 55954, with median rent of $947 and $779 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.4% vs 87.3%. 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.