ZIP 61859 vs ZIP 61871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61859 (Ogden, IL) and ZIP 61871 (Royal, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61859 has a population of 1,297 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 61871 has 284 at 316 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 61859 reports a median household income of $102,708 against $78,750 in ZIP 61871, with per-capita income of $45,863 vs $49,773. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 61859 and 21.8% in 61871. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 2.0% — 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 $182,500 in 61859 versus $161,200 in 61871, with median rent of $1,500 and $1,091 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.8% vs 84.2%. 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.