ZIP 56297 vs ZIP 56237

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56297 (Wood Lake, MN) and ZIP 56237 (Echo, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56297 has a population of 867 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 56237 has 600 at 4 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 56297 reports a median household income of $82,250 against $89,000 in ZIP 56237, with per-capita income of $40,404 vs $43,472. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.1% in 56297 and 23.2% in 56237. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 1.2% — 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 $142,200 in 56297 versus $171,400 in 56237, with median rent of $660 and $611 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.5% vs 90.0%. 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.