ZIP 56011 vs ZIP 55315

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56011 (Belle Plaine, MN) and ZIP 55315 (Carver, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56011 has a population of 8,925 at 33 people per square mile, while ZIP 55315 has 4,762 at 69 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 56011 reports a median household income of $102,522 against $140,893 in ZIP 55315, with per-capita income of $47,541 vs $56,369. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.7% in 56011 and 60.8% in 55315. Poverty rate reads 2.7% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 3.3% — 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 $345,300 in 56011 versus $453,000 in 55315, with median rent of $1,360 and $1,386 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.4% vs 93.6%. 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.