56501Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 56501.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 42% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3685th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured50
Schools2383rd of 4,422 ZIP areas measured49
GrowthTop 26% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured63
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 6,685 ZIP areas measured83
Climate6772nd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured45
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured87
Access6128th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured67
Economic stability5411th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured40
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $70,037, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 49 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 58% on the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 56501 in the top 14% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
18,004
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$70,037
Bottom 47% nationally
Density
96/sq mi
186.9 sq mi of land
Median age
44.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Detroit Lakes
Minnesota
Metro area
Detroit Lakes, MN
Nearest major airport
FAR
47 mi · Hector Intl
Median home value
$314,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 43% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.6% over the past year, to 18,219 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,216$70,037Bottom 47%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,578$45,609Top 26%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.7%Top 40%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.4 minBottom 11%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.5%Top 30%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment18,219Bottom 16%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.8%Top 27%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.6%Bottom 33%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force19,106Bottom 16%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation62.3%Top 44%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 21%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 43%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202470k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $70,037 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Detroit Lakes, MN, the city containing this ZIP code.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
46.1%
Bottom 47% in Minnesota
Reading proficiency
47.9%
Bottom 41% in Minnesota
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
DETROIT LAKES SENIOR HIGHDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.79114.9
DETROIT LAKES MIDDLEDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.61716.727%37%
ROSSMAN ELEMENTARYDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.56513.564%55%
ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARYDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.56212.849%52%
LINCOLN EARLY CHILDHOOD ED. CENTERDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.64
DETROIT LAKES AREA LEARNING CENTERDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.5711.4
Laker TransitionsDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.178.5
DETROIT LAKES MIDDLE ALCDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.0
Detroit Lakes Alternative ProgramDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.0
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.0
HS EXTENDED YEAR PROGRAMDETROIT LAKES PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.0

37.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Minnesota’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $963 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$963
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$314,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.49Top 21%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.5%Bottom 30%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±25510,291Top 16%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$59$963Bottom 45%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,069$314,700Top 31%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.5%Bottom 41%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate25.2%Top 19%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
63/ 100
Top 26% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

At 4.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
49
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.9
Top 31% nationally
Year over year
+58%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
42.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Detroit Lakes, MN, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of -4°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 29.5 inches, including 47.6 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

-10°10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DETROIT LAKES 1 NNE, 0.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index54.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation29.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall47.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low-4°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high79°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10022024 calendar year
Median air quality index36.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing62°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

87 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, strong wind and hail.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 80% of measured US ZIP areas.

Winter weatherElevated
WildfireModerate
HailModerate
TornadoHigh
Strong windElevated
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, cold wave, inland flooding, drought, heat wave, ice storm, earthquake.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Becker County records 3.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.2 per 100,000 residents in Becker County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
18.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
28.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Becker County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 56501 rather than 56501 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 47 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hector IntlFAR47 mi9,001 ft
Duluth IntlDLH172 mi10,591 ft
Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold-ChamberlainMSP184 mi11,006 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
62
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

56501 vs Detroit Lakes

How this ZIP area compares with Detroit Lakes as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

56501
Detroit Lakes
Median household income
$70,037
vs
$62,958
Per capita income
$45,609
vs
$46,289
Population density
96/sq mi
vs
847/sq mi
Median home value
$314,700
vs
$265,800
Median gross rent
$963
vs
$954
Homeownership rate
70.5%
vs
56.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher
32.5%
vs
32.8%
Poverty rate
12.7%
vs
16.6%
Median age
44.5
vs
41.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.