ZIP 61761 vs ZIP 61701

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61761 (Normal, IL) and ZIP 61701 (Bloomington, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61761 has a population of 52,879 at 481 people per square mile, while ZIP 61701 has 36,105 at 1,246 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 61761 reports a median household income of $65,275 against $57,130 in ZIP 61701, with per-capita income of $36,703 vs $36,396. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.9% in 61761 and 37.5% in 61701. Poverty rate reads 21.2% vs 16.3%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 3.3% — 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 $214,600 in 61761 versus $144,500 in 61701, with median rent of $966 and $909 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.0% vs 56.7%. 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.