ZIP 56479 vs ZIP 56481

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56479 (Staples, MN) and ZIP 56481 (Verndale, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56479 has a population of 5,384 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 56481 has 2,031 at 5 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 56479 reports a median household income of $59,920 against $73,295 in ZIP 56481, with per-capita income of $31,630 vs $34,528. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.9% in 56479 and 17.0% in 56481. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 4.5% — 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 $191,700 in 56479 versus $167,700 in 56481, with median rent of $839 and $675 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 89.8%. 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.