ZIP 56549 vs ZIP 56552

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56549 (Hawley, MN) and ZIP 56552 (Hitterdal, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56549 has a population of 4,508 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 56552 has 429 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 56549 reports a median household income of $105,968 against $51,786 in ZIP 56552, with per-capita income of $46,131 vs $30,617. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.2% in 56549 and 16.8% in 56552. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 5.1% — 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 $341,500 in 56549 versus $193,300 in 56552, with median rent of $749 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.2% vs 89.4%. 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.