ZIP 61413 vs ZIP 61468

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61413 (Alpha, IL) and ZIP 61468 (Ophiem, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61413 has a population of 1,075 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 61468 has 104 at 21 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 61413 reports a median household income of $73,125 against $42,969 in ZIP 61468, with per-capita income of $42,633 vs $18,459. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 61413 and 22.6% in 61468. Poverty rate reads 1.9% vs 68.5%, and unemployment 2.4% 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 $120,100 in 61413 versus $96,800 in 61468, with median rent of $819 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.7% vs 100.0%. 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.