ZIP 56072 vs ZIP 56042

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56072 (New Richland, MN) and ZIP 56042 (Hartland, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56072 has a population of 2,389 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 56042 has 720 at 5 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 56072 reports a median household income of $80,417 against $89,750 in ZIP 56042, with per-capita income of $38,862 vs $44,399. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 56072 and 23.8% in 56042. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 11.2% — 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 $205,400 in 56072 versus $205,200 in 56042, with median rent of $779 and $546 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.1% vs 83.9%. 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.