ZIP 61075 vs ZIP 61001

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61075 (Scales Mound, IL) and ZIP 61001 (Apple River, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61075 has a population of 958 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 61001 has 1,179 at 12 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 61075 reports a median household income of $75,547 against $77,841 in ZIP 61001, with per-capita income of $39,157 vs $50,694. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.0% in 61075 and 33.3% in 61001. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 5.7% — 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 $225,500 in 61075 versus $300,300 in 61001, with median rent of $831 and $880 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.2% vs 86.9%. 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.