ZIP 56032 vs ZIP 56009

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56032 (Freeborn, MN) and ZIP 56009 (Alden, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56032 has a population of 313 at 188 people per square mile, while ZIP 56009 has 1,613 at 7 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 56032 reports a median household income of $50,000 against $80,804 in ZIP 56009, with per-capita income of $26,039 vs $38,674. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.5% in 56032 and 18.9% in 56009. Poverty rate reads 25.7% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 10.5% vs 4.6% — 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 $103,100 in 56032 versus $203,700 in 56009, with median rent of $820 and $920 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 85.8%. 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.