ZIP 61854 vs ZIP 61853

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61854 (Mansfield, IL) and ZIP 61853 (Mahomet, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61854 has a population of 1,438 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 61853 has 13,206 at 105 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 61854 reports a median household income of $86,705 against $115,512 in ZIP 61853, with per-capita income of $47,231 vs $50,170. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.8% in 61854 and 53.2% in 61853. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 1.7% 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 $165,600 in 61854 versus $282,200 in 61853, with median rent of $1,021 and $1,361 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 83.5%. 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.