ZIP 56551 vs ZIP 56588

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56551 (Henning, MN) and ZIP 56588 (Vining, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56551 has a population of 2,237 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 56588 has 568 at 4 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 56551 reports a median household income of $63,750 against $74,306 in ZIP 56588, with per-capita income of $36,315 vs $47,394. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.1% in 56551 and 24.0% in 56588. Poverty rate reads 12.3% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 5.6% — 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 $238,200 in 56551 versus $344,400 in 56588, with median rent of $812 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.6% vs 94.8%. 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.