ZIP 61436 vs ZIP 61448

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61436 (Gilson, IL) and ZIP 61448 (Knoxville, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61436 has a population of 951 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 61448 has 3,823 at 35 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 61436 reports a median household income of $76,000 against $82,500 in ZIP 61448, with per-capita income of $49,198 vs $35,509. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.5% in 61436 and 24.0% in 61448. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 4.7% — 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 $205,000 in 61436 versus $146,100 in 61448, with median rent of — and $614 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.0% vs 86.6%. 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.