ZIP 56024 vs ZIP 56080

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56024 (Eagle Lake, MN) and ZIP 56080 (Saint Clair, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56024 has a population of 2,759 at 54 people per square mile, while ZIP 56080 has 770 at 663 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 56024 reports a median household income of $95,357 against $105,398 in ZIP 56080, with per-capita income of $36,340 vs $39,488. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.3% in 56024 and 29.8% in 56080. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 2.4% — 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 $285,600 in 56024 versus $214,900 in 56080, with median rent of $1,400 and $750 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.4% vs 94.2%. 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.