ZIP 56601 vs ZIP 56671

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56601 (Bemidji, MN) and ZIP 56671 (Redlake, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56601 has a population of 32,225 at 34 people per square mile, while ZIP 56671 has 3,371 at 6 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 56601 reports a median household income of $72,262 against $48,625 in ZIP 56671, with per-capita income of $38,496 vs $18,274. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.1% in 56601 and 9.4% in 56671. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 33.0%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 7.1% — 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 $260,900 in 56601 versus $64,300 in 56671, with median rent of $1,088 and $399 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.2% vs 76.2%. 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.