ZIP 61074 vs ZIP 61053

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