ZIP 56342 vs ZIP 56386

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56342 (Isle, MN) and ZIP 56386 (Wahkon, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56342 has a population of 2,739 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 56386 has 652 at 13 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 56342 reports a median household income of $63,295 against $54,583 in ZIP 56386, with per-capita income of $45,018 vs $31,697. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.5% in 56342 and 14.6% in 56386. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 9.3% vs 5.8% — 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 $246,500 in 56342 versus $277,800 in 56386, with median rent of $814 and $886 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.0% vs 83.7%. 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.