ZIP 61031 vs ZIP 61057

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61031 (Franklin Grove, IL) and ZIP 61057 (Nachusa, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61031 has a population of 1,656 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 61057 has 168 at 39 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 61031 reports a median household income of $75,446 against — in ZIP 61057, with per-capita income of $35,828 vs $8,583. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.2% in 61031 and 11.1% in 61057. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $136,700 in 61031 versus — in 61057, with median rent of $823 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.4% vs 100.0%. 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.