ZIP 56387 vs ZIP 56301

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56387 (Waite Park, MN) and ZIP 56301 (Saint Cloud, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56387 has a population of 6,734 at 307 people per square mile, while ZIP 56301 has 32,434 at 169 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 56387 reports a median household income of $59,009 against $73,142 in ZIP 56301, with per-capita income of $29,733 vs $34,316. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.8% in 56387 and 32.0% in 56301. Poverty rate reads 22.4% vs 20.6%, and unemployment 7.4% vs 6.8% — 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 $232,200 in 56387 versus $288,600 in 56301, with median rent of $1,129 and $1,151 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.7% vs 50.9%. 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.