ZIP 61354 vs ZIP 61320

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61354 (Peru, IL) and ZIP 61320 (Dalzell, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61354 has a population of 10,870 at 99 people per square mile, while ZIP 61320 has 710 at 293 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 61354 reports a median household income of $76,392 against $76,250 in ZIP 61320, with per-capita income of $42,263 vs $33,337. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 61354 and 21.8% in 61320. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 8.5%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 5.9% — 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 $158,500 in 61354 versus $161,700 in 61320, with median rent of $920 and $919 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.7% vs 81.3%. 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.