ZIP 56120 vs ZIP 56022

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56120 (Butterfield, MN) and ZIP 56022 (Darfur, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56120 has a population of 1,121 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 56022 has 70 at 280 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 56120 reports a median household income of $77,188 against $65,750 in ZIP 56022, with per-capita income of $35,541 vs $40,895. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 56120 and 2.6% in 56022. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 4.4% — 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 $147,800 in 56120 versus $70,600 in 56022, with median rent of $685 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.5% vs 70.7%. 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.