ZIP 56209 vs ZIP 56251

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56209 (Atwater, MN) and ZIP 56251 (Kandiyohi, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56209 has a population of 2,339 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 56251 has 987 at 11 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 56209 reports a median household income of $86,118 against $76,917 in ZIP 56251, with per-capita income of $33,932 vs $38,878. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 56209 and 24.6% in 56251. Poverty rate reads 5.2% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 6.3% vs 2.2% — 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 $230,800 in 56209 versus $218,400 in 56251, with median rent of $806 and $787 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 81.6%. 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.