ZIP 56028 vs ZIP 56063

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56028 (Elysian, MN) and ZIP 56063 (Madison Lake, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56028 has a population of 1,372 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 56063 has 2,724 at 25 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 56028 reports a median household income of $93,375 against $102,391 in ZIP 56063, with per-capita income of $47,822 vs $55,889. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.4% in 56028 and 40.4% in 56063. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 5.1% — 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 $338,000 in 56028 versus $416,300 in 56063, with median rent of $1,069 and $810 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.7% vs 82.4%. 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.