ZIP 57029 vs ZIP 57045

This side-by-side compares ZIP 57029 (Freeman, SD) and ZIP 57045 (Menno, SD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 57029 has a population of 2,023 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 57045 has 996 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 57029 reports a median household income of $73,750 against $76,042 in ZIP 57045, with per-capita income of $34,361 vs $38,370. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.3% in 57029 and 24.4% in 57045. Poverty rate reads 15.4% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 1.2% - 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 $179,700 in 57029 versus $117,900 in 57045, with median rent of $749 and $506 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.9% vs 80.4%. 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.