ZIP 61435 vs ZIP 61412

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61435 (Gerlaw, IL) and ZIP 61412 (Alexis, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61435 has a population of 116 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 61412 has 1,321 at 7 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 61435 reports a median household income of — against $82,143 in ZIP 61412, with per-capita income of $37,507 vs $39,279. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.8% in 61435 and 24.7% in 61412. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.8% — 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 — in 61435 versus $117,600 in 61412, with median rent of $708 and $920 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.7% vs 87.5%. 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.