ZIP 61542 vs ZIP 61519

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61542 (Lewistown, IL) and ZIP 61519 (Bryant, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61542 has a population of 3,794 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 61519 has 233 at 76 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 61542 reports a median household income of $69,107 against $37,941 in ZIP 61519, with per-capita income of $34,403 vs $22,818. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 61542 and 12.2% in 61519. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 30.2%, and unemployment 10.6% vs 0.0% — 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 $116,200 in 61542 versus $145,000 in 61519, with median rent of $599 and $590 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.0% vs 75.5%. 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.