ZIP 55985 vs ZIP 55927

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55985 (West Concord, MN) and ZIP 55927 (Dodge Center, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55985 has a population of 1,858 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 55927 has 4,071 at 20 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 55985 reports a median household income of $83,636 against $99,566 in ZIP 55927, with per-capita income of $40,980 vs $47,544. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.4% in 55985 and 20.0% in 55927. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 3.8%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 2.0% — 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 $245,200 in 55985 versus $241,100 in 55927, with median rent of $799 and $989 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 83.8%. 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.