ZIP 61553 vs ZIP 61531

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61553 (Norris, IL) and ZIP 61531 (Farmington, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61553 has a population of 213 at 308 people per square mile, while ZIP 61531 has 3,379 at 23 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 61553 reports a median household income of $44,844 against $70,107 in ZIP 61531, with per-capita income of $20,356 vs $36,069. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 2.4% in 61553 and 32.4% in 61531. Poverty rate reads 19.8% vs 8.5%, and unemployment 17.3% vs 7.9% — 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 $63,100 in 61553 versus $127,700 in 61531, with median rent of $863 and $931 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.7% vs 80.0%. 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.