ZIP 56320 vs ZIP 56369

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56320 (Cold Spring, MN) and ZIP 56369 (Rockville, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56320 has a population of 8,080 at 58 people per square mile, while ZIP 56369 has 528 at 217 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 56320 reports a median household income of $87,026 against $98,077 in ZIP 56369, with per-capita income of $45,147 vs $29,399. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.5% in 56320 and 17.2% in 56369. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $353,600 in 56320 versus $249,100 in 56369, with median rent of $1,390 and $846 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.8% vs 65.1%. 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.