ZIP 61062 vs ZIP 61048

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61062 (Pearl City, IL) and ZIP 61048 (Lena, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61062 has a population of 1,983 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 61048 has 4,360 at 20 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 61062 reports a median household income of $66,667 against $82,875 in ZIP 61048, with per-capita income of $30,998 vs $42,107. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.5% in 61062 and 24.1% in 61048. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 3.0%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 2.3% — 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 $196,900 in 61062 versus $166,600 in 61048, with median rent of $977 and $664 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.7% vs 82.8%. 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.