ZIP 56073 vs ZIP 56054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56073 (New Ulm, MN) and ZIP 56054 (Lafayette, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56073 has a population of 16,759 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 56054 has 923 at 6 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 56073 reports a median household income of $70,250 against $93,214 in ZIP 56054, with per-capita income of $37,912 vs $42,678. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.2% in 56073 and 25.3% in 56054. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 3.5%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 0.4% — 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 $218,700 in 56073 versus $198,200 in 56054, with median rent of $959 and $940 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 89.3%. 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.