ZIP 61350 vs ZIP 61364

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61350 (Ottawa, IL) and ZIP 61364 (Streator, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61350 has a population of 24,246 at 61 people per square mile, while ZIP 61364 has 20,133 at 54 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 61350 reports a median household income of $77,921 against $59,060 in ZIP 61364, with per-capita income of $42,813 vs $34,437. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.8% in 61350 and 13.4% in 61364. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 20.4%, and unemployment 6.3% vs 7.6% - 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 $164,500 in 61350 versus $103,700 in 61364, with median rent of $928 and $910 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.1% vs 70.2%. 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.