ZIP 61231 vs ZIP 61281

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61231 (Aledo, IL) and ZIP 61281 (Sherrard, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61231 has a population of 5,627 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 61281 has 2,597 at 26 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 61231 reports a median household income of $70,991 against $102,639 in ZIP 61281, with per-capita income of $35,849 vs $49,103. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.3% in 61231 and 27.1% in 61281. Poverty rate reads 11.5% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 2.1% — 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 $147,600 in 61231 versus $224,000 in 61281, with median rent of $815 and $763 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.2% vs 92.4%. 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.