ZIP 61412 vs ZIP 61435

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61412 (Alexis, IL) and ZIP 61435 (Gerlaw, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61412 has a population of 1,321 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 61435 has 116 at 5 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 61412 reports a median household income of $82,143 against — in ZIP 61435, with per-capita income of $39,279 vs $37,507. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.7% in 61412 and 42.8% in 61435. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 12.7%, and unemployment 4.8% 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 $117,600 in 61412 versus — in 61435, with median rent of $920 and $708 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 43.7%. 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.