ZIP 56009 vs ZIP 56020

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56009 (Alden, MN) and ZIP 56020 (Conger, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56009 has a population of 1,613 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 56020 has 115 at 43 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 56009 reports a median household income of $80,804 against $83,750 in ZIP 56020, with per-capita income of $38,674 vs $31,653. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.9% in 56009 and 24.4% in 56020. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 4.5% — 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 $203,700 in 56009 versus $112,500 in 56020, with median rent of $920 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.8% vs 100.0%. 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.