ZIP 56339 vs ZIP 56311

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56339 (Hoffman, MN) and ZIP 56311 (Barrett, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56339 has a population of 1,129 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 56311 has 757 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 56339 reports a median household income of $60,893 against $74,583 in ZIP 56311, with per-capita income of $31,569 vs $37,230. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.1% in 56339 and 14.4% in 56311. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 2.0% — 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 $221,500 in 56339 versus $172,200 in 56311, with median rent of $870 and $1,309 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.2% vs 82.7%. 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.