ZIP 56288 vs ZIP 56273

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56288 (Spicer, MN) and ZIP 56273 (New London, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56288 has a population of 4,696 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 56273 has 4,797 at 19 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 56288 reports a median household income of $111,021 against $90,122 in ZIP 56273, with per-capita income of $62,865 vs $41,577. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.6% in 56288 and 35.2% in 56273. Poverty rate reads 3.7% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 2.1% — 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 $422,300 in 56288 versus $320,100 in 56273, with median rent of $843 and $956 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.6% vs 86.9%. 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.