ZIP 56081 vs ZIP 56062

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56081 (Saint James, MN) and ZIP 56062 (Madelia, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56081 has a population of 6,098 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 56062 has 3,208 at 10 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 56081 reports a median household income of $67,337 against $76,713 in ZIP 56062, with per-capita income of $35,956 vs $36,794. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.8% in 56081 and 21.3% in 56062. Poverty rate reads 16.0% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 6.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $163,800 in 56081 versus $182,500 in 56062, with median rent of $844 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.2% vs 80.8%. 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.