ZIP 61523 vs ZIP 61562

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61523 (Chillicothe, IL) and ZIP 61562 (Rome, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61523 has a population of 11,204 at 81 people per square mile, while ZIP 61562 has 46 at 654 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 61523 reports a median household income of $79,453 against - in ZIP 61562, with per-capita income of $45,720 vs $47,142. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.6% in 61523 and 68.4% in 61562. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.4% vs - - 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 $161,700 in 61523 versus - in 61562, with median rent of $917 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.9% vs 100.0%. 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.