ZIP 56633 vs ZIP 56474

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56633 (Cass Lake, MN) and ZIP 56474 (Pine River, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56633 has a population of 4,541 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 56474 has 4,244 at 7 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 56633 reports a median household income of $67,981 against $59,922 in ZIP 56474, with per-capita income of $27,368 vs $36,638. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.8% in 56633 and 21.6% in 56474. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 12.7%, and unemployment 14.2% vs 4.3% — 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 $166,400 in 56633 versus $238,600 in 56474, with median rent of $824 and $830 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.2% vs 83.3%. 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.