ZIP 61567 vs ZIP 61532

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61567 (Topeka, IL) and ZIP 61532 (Forest City, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61567 has a population of 624 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 61532 has 534 at 6 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 61567 reports a median household income of $68,750 against $71,544 in ZIP 61532, with per-capita income of $32,874 vs $29,257. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 2.6% in 61567 and 22.0% in 61532. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 35.7%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 12.7% — 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 $87,700 in 61567 versus $116,000 in 61532, with median rent of $939 and $930 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.0% vs 82.6%. 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.