ZIP 56452 vs ZIP 56435

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56452 (Hackensack, MN) and ZIP 56435 (Backus, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56452 has a population of 1,755 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 56435 has 2,372 at 6 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 56452 reports a median household income of $62,941 against $62,381 in ZIP 56435, with per-capita income of $42,778 vs $33,521. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.3% in 56452 and 17.0% in 56435. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 15.7%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 5.3% — 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 $352,700 in 56452 versus $256,800 in 56435, with median rent of $719 and $811 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.3% vs 92.8%. 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.