ZIP 61472 vs ZIP 61413

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61472 (Rio, IL) and ZIP 61413 (Alpha, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61472 has a population of 648 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 61413 has 1,075 at 13 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 61472 reports a median household income of $76,500 against $73,125 in ZIP 61413, with per-capita income of $39,177 vs $42,633. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.5% in 61472 and 20.1% in 61413. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 1.9%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 2.4% — 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 $150,000 in 61472 versus $120,100 in 61413, with median rent of $775 and $819 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.5% vs 89.7%. 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.