ZIP 56431 vs ZIP 55760

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56431 (Aitkin, MN) and ZIP 55760 (Mcgregor, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56431 has a population of 8,931 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 55760 has 3,108 at 3 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 56431 reports a median household income of $67,828 against $59,474 in ZIP 55760, with per-capita income of $39,048 vs $36,741. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 56431 and 21.7% in 55760. Poverty rate reads 12.4% vs 14.3%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 6.2% — 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 $295,400 in 56431 versus $274,600 in 55760, with median rent of $829 and $942 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.5% vs 82.1%. 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.