ZIP 60955 vs ZIP 60938

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60955 (Onarga, IL) and ZIP 60938 (Gilman, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60955 has a population of 1,901 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 60938 has 2,131 at 16 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 60955 reports a median household income of $79,034 against $73,244 in ZIP 60938, with per-capita income of $31,419 vs $35,981. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.9% in 60955 and 20.1% in 60938. Poverty rate reads 7.9% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 5.6% — 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 $108,700 in 60955 versus $136,000 in 60938, with median rent of $950 and $733 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.3% vs 83.0%. 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.