ZIP 61820 vs ZIP 61801

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61820 (Champaign, IL) and ZIP 61801 (Urbana, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61820 has a population of 36,964 at 2,186 people per square mile, while ZIP 61801 has 30,937 at 2,234 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 61820 reports a median household income of $27,539 against $36,180 in ZIP 61801, with per-capita income of $21,634 vs $28,276. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.3% in 61820 and 62.7% in 61801. Poverty rate reads 47.8% vs 34.2%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 5.4% — 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 $184,500 in 61820 versus $177,100 in 61801, with median rent of $1,108 and $972 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 19.6% vs 33.3%. 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.