ZIP 56680 vs ZIP 56659

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56680 (Spring Lake, MN) and ZIP 56659 (Max, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56680 has a population of 117 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 56659 has 54 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 56680 reports a median household income of $51,250 against $98,750 in ZIP 56659, with per-capita income of $31,034 vs $53,504. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 56680 and 27.0% in 56659. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 8.3%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 1.9% — 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 $245,000 in 56680 versus $364,300 in 56659, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.1% vs 93.8%. 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.