ZIP 61071 vs ZIP 61037

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61071 (Rock Falls, IL) and ZIP 61037 (Galt, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61071 has a population of 14,381 at 78 people per square mile, while ZIP 61037 has 140 at 322 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 61071 reports a median household income of $60,508 against $70,357 in ZIP 61037, with per-capita income of $35,211 vs $131,539. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.9% in 61071 and 15.5% in 61037. Poverty rate reads 18.1% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 5.2% 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 $102,300 in 61071 versus $103,600 in 61037, with median rent of $797 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.8% 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.