ZIP 61454 vs ZIP 61425

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61454 (Lomax, IL) and ZIP 61425 (Carman, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61454 has a population of 725 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 61425 has 483 at 6 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 61454 reports a median household income of $51,000 against $62,708 in ZIP 61425, with per-capita income of $23,332 vs $33,779. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.6% in 61454 and 18.9% in 61425. Poverty rate reads 30.7% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 9.0% — 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 $83,100 in 61454 versus $91,000 in 61425, with median rent of $902 and $701 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.9% vs 69.8%. 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.