ZIP 61724 vs ZIP 61770

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61724 (Bellflower, IL) and ZIP 61770 (Saybrook, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61724 has a population of 536 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 61770 has 1,108 at 7 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 61724 reports a median household income of $81,250 against $60,750 in ZIP 61770, with per-capita income of $36,554 vs $29,402. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.4% in 61724 and 16.4% in 61770. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 16.9%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 6.2% — 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 $147,900 in 61724 versus $110,900 in 61770, with median rent of $869 and $973 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 78.8%. 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.