ZIP 56165 vs ZIP 56185

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56165 (Reading, MN) and ZIP 56185 (Wilmont, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56165 has a population of 349 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 56185 has 560 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 56165 reports a median household income of $106,250 against $62,083 in ZIP 56185, with per-capita income of $47,098 vs $36,552. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.4% in 56165 and 13.0% in 56185. Poverty rate reads 17.8% vs 11.0%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 2.0% — 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 $212,500 in 56165 versus $165,900 in 56185, with median rent of — and $814 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 86.0%. 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.