ZIP 56621 vs ZIP 56676

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56621 (Bagley, MN) and ZIP 56676 (Shevlin, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56621 has a population of 4,639 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 56676 has 1,663 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 56621 reports a median household income of $63,721 against $74,167 in ZIP 56676, with per-capita income of $33,419 vs $39,354. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.7% in 56621 and 25.7% in 56676. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 8.5% vs 6.0% — 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 $185,000 in 56621 versus $209,600 in 56676, with median rent of $755 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.5% vs 90.8%. 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.