ZIP 56063 vs ZIP 56017

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56063 (Madison Lake, MN) and ZIP 56017 (Cleveland, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56063 has a population of 2,724 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 56017 has 1,620 at 22 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 56063 reports a median household income of $102,391 against $88,056 in ZIP 56017, with per-capita income of $55,889 vs $51,972. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.4% in 56063 and 28.8% in 56017. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 3.5% — 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 $416,300 in 56063 versus $330,900 in 56017, with median rent of $810 and $961 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 84.4%. 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.