ZIP 56556 vs ZIP 56715

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56556 (Mcintosh, MN) and ZIP 56715 (Brooks, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56556 has a population of 1,160 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 56715 has 350 at 2 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 56556 reports a median household income of $61,786 against $77,875 in ZIP 56715, with per-capita income of $25,628 vs $38,380. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.7% in 56556 and 15.0% in 56715. Poverty rate reads 18.8% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 1.6% vs 0.7% — 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 $150,600 in 56556 versus $163,200 in 56715, with median rent of $593 and $473 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.8% vs 86.6%. 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.