ZIP 56721 vs ZIP 56716

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56721 (East Grand Forks, MN) and ZIP 56716 (Crookston, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56721 has a population of 10,096 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 56716 has 9,416 at 12 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 56721 reports a median household income of $82,525 against $59,744 in ZIP 56716, with per-capita income of $36,872 vs $38,842. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.3% in 56721 and 32.4% in 56716. Poverty rate reads 10.8% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 3.4% — 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 $259,300 in 56721 versus $196,100 in 56716, with median rent of $890 and $847 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.2% vs 61.9%. 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.