ZIP 56518 vs ZIP 56482

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56518 (Bluffton, MN) and ZIP 56482 (Wadena, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56518 has a population of 388 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 56482 has 6,666 at 20 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 56518 reports a median household income of $71,250 against $64,439 in ZIP 56482, with per-capita income of $27,415 vs $33,776. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.2% in 56518 and 18.2% in 56482. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 13.3%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 5.0% — 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 $160,300 in 56518 versus $169,800 in 56482, with median rent of $843 and $731 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 68.4%. 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.