ZIP 61839 vs ZIP 61842

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61839 (De Land, IL) and ZIP 61842 (Farmer City, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61839 has a population of 586 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 61842 has 2,984 at 12 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 61839 reports a median household income of $56,389 against $80,117 in ZIP 61842, with per-capita income of $40,800 vs $35,036. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.9% in 61839 and 19.9% in 61842. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 7.9%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 7.5% - 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 $92,500 in 61839 versus $157,500 in 61842, with median rent of $807 and $492 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.7% vs 88.0%. 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.