ZIP 61278 vs ZIP 61275

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61278 (Rapids City, IL) and ZIP 61275 (Port Byron, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61278 has a population of 412 at 158 people per square mile, while ZIP 61275 has 4,347 at 50 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 61278 reports a median household income of $69,938 against $108,438 in ZIP 61275, with per-capita income of $44,106 vs $48,028. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.6% in 61278 and 29.1% in 61275. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 8.3%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 5.8% — 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 $219,000 in 61278 versus $245,700 in 61275, with median rent of — and $1,005 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.6% vs 89.4%. 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.