ZIP 56301 vs ZIP 56303

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56301 (Saint Cloud, MN) and ZIP 56303 (Saint Cloud, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56301 has a population of 32,434 at 169 people per square mile, while ZIP 56303 has 25,984 at 899 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 56301 reports a median household income of $73,142 against $65,198 in ZIP 56303, with per-capita income of $34,316 vs $35,014. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.0% in 56301 and 30.9% in 56303. Poverty rate reads 20.6% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 3.0% — 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 $288,600 in 56301 versus $205,200 in 56303, with median rent of $1,151 and $927 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.9% vs 63.3%. 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.