ZIP 56159 vs ZIP 56118

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56159 (Mountain Lake, MN) and ZIP 56118 (Bingham Lake, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56159 has a population of 2,928 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 56118 has 421 at 3 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 56159 reports a median household income of $71,648 against $91,250 in ZIP 56118, with per-capita income of $33,260 vs $41,949. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.0% in 56159 and 21.2% in 56118. Poverty rate reads 14.9% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 1.1% — 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 $161,800 in 56159 versus $259,600 in 56118, with median rent of $921 and $933 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.4% vs 95.8%. 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.