ZIP 61239 vs ZIP 61282

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61239 (Carbon Cliff, IL) and ZIP 61282 (Silvis, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61239 has a population of 1,219 at 280 people per square mile, while ZIP 61282 has 7,809 at 906 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 61239 reports a median household income of $32,177 against $64,398 in ZIP 61282, with per-capita income of $19,792 vs $38,482. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.6% in 61239 and 15.9% in 61282. Poverty rate reads 29.7% vs 15.0%, and unemployment 6.9% vs 3.5% — 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 $99,400 in 61239 versus $160,100 in 61282, with median rent of $1,052 and $968 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.4% vs 58.9%. 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.