ZIP 61849 vs ZIP 61816

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61849 (Homer, IL) and ZIP 61816 (Broadlands, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61849 has a population of 1,842 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 61816 has 509 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 61849 reports a median household income of $86,250 against $70,833 in ZIP 61816, with per-capita income of $50,829 vs $35,684. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.9% in 61849 and 15.7% in 61816. Poverty rate reads 9.7% vs 15.9%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 3.6% — 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 $159,900 in 61849 versus $145,500 in 61816, with median rent of $979 and $940 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.9% vs 85.8%. 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.