ZIP 60918 vs ZIP 60948

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60918 (Buckley, IL) and ZIP 60948 (Loda, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60918 has a population of 898 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 60948 has 1,533 at 13 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 60918 reports a median household income of $73,500 against $106,250 in ZIP 60948, with per-capita income of $35,628 vs $45,672. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.8% in 60918 and 20.3% in 60948. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 1.3% 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 $122,300 in 60918 versus $229,600 in 60948, with median rent of $842 and $1,542 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.1% vs 98.1%. 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.