ZIP 61856 vs ZIP 61813

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61856 (Monticello, IL) and ZIP 61813 (Bement, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61856 has a population of 7,433 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 61813 has 1,971 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 61856 reports a median household income of $103,559 against $84,063 in ZIP 61813, with per-capita income of $51,286 vs $34,325. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.6% in 61856 and 16.7% in 61813. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 1.2% - 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 $230,900 in 61856 versus $103,800 in 61813, with median rent of $1,398 and $725 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 80.0%. 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.