ZIP 61109 vs ZIP 61104

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61109 (Rockford, IL) and ZIP 61104 (Rockford, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61109 has a population of 28,333 at 283 people per square mile, while ZIP 61104 has 19,269 at 1,650 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 61109 reports a median household income of $62,973 against $33,772 in ZIP 61104, with per-capita income of $33,806 vs $22,510. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.2% in 61109 and 9.3% in 61104. Poverty rate reads 17.6% vs 37.6%, and unemployment 9.7% vs 11.4% — 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 $139,400 in 61109 versus $90,100 in 61104, with median rent of $959 and $887 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.2% vs 37.8%. 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.