Special Report

This Is the Least Educated ZIP Code in Minnesota

Samuel Stebbins

Published: August 27, 2021 7:00 am

Last Updated: August 27, 2021 8:13 pm

The average cost of a college education in the United States is $35,720 a year — three times higher than it was two decades ago. While rising tuition costs are discouraging many Americans from enrolling, a college education is an investment that can increase access to career opportunities, improve job security, and increase earning potential.

Nationwide, an estimated 32.1% of American adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educational attainment rates vary considerably across the country, however, and in every state, there is at least one ZIP code where the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree is well below the national average.

In Minnesota’s 56446 ZIP code, located in Douglas County, only 8.4% of the adult population have a bachelor’s degree, the smallest share of any ZIP code in the state. Meanwhile, across Minnesota, 36.1% of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The average weekly wage for a college-educated worker in the United States is about 67% higher than it is for those with no more than a high school diploma — and in places with lower educational attainment, incomes also tend to be lower than average. In the 56446 ZIP code, the typical household earns just $45,121 per year, less than the median household income across Minnesota of $71,306.

All data in this story are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. We considered all ZIP codes with available data for which the margin of error was within an acceptable threshold.