ZIP 61053 vs ZIP 61074

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61053 (Mount Carroll, IL) and ZIP 61074 (Savanna, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61053 has a population of 2,852 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 61074 has 4,431 at 23 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 61053 reports a median household income of $62,250 against $50,691 in ZIP 61074, with per-capita income of $35,037 vs $29,444. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.9% in 61053 and 13.3% in 61074. Poverty rate reads 19.7% vs 15.2%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 2.9% — 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 $106,700 in 61053 versus $91,500 in 61074, with median rent of $787 and $857 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.0% vs 66.0%. 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.