ZIP 61470 vs ZIP 61422

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61470 (Prairie City, IL) and ZIP 61422 (Bushnell, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61470 has a population of 547 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 61422 has 3,416 at 33 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 61470 reports a median household income of $72,708 against $68,207 in ZIP 61422, with per-capita income of $30,899 vs $37,325. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.1% in 61470 and 16.5% in 61422. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 9.9% vs 6.1% — 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 $101,400 in 61470 versus $78,400 in 61422, with median rent of $717 and $648 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.7% vs 72.2%. 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.