ZIP 61842 vs ZIP 61839

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