ZIP 61720 vs ZIP 61731

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61720 (Anchor, IL) and ZIP 61731 (Cropsey, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61720 has a population of 236 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 61731 has 280 at 5 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 61720 reports a median household income of $91,250 against — in ZIP 61731, with per-capita income of $47,414 vs $45,147. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 61720 and 0.0% in 61731. Poverty rate reads 8.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $110,800 in 61720 versus $181,000 in 61731, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.8% 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.