ZIP 61241 vs ZIP 61236

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61241 (Colona, IL) and ZIP 61236 (Barstow, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61241 has a population of 7,124 at 152 people per square mile, while ZIP 61236 has 193 at 52 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 61241 reports a median household income of $80,000 against $77,813 in ZIP 61236, with per-capita income of $37,137 vs $28,400. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.2% in 61241 and 8.7% in 61236. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 0.0% — 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 $165,900 in 61241 versus $159,400 in 61236, with median rent of $838 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.8% vs 69.2%. 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.