ZIP 61862 vs ZIP 61847

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61862 (Penfield, IL) and ZIP 61847 (Gifford, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61862 has a population of 510 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 61847 has 1,256 at 16 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 61862 reports a median household income of $114,250 against $92,344 in ZIP 61847, with per-capita income of $37,233 vs $41,885. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.5% in 61862 and 24.9% in 61847. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 1.7% — 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 $121,600 in 61862 versus $182,700 in 61847, with median rent of $825 and $1,010 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.4% vs 90.6%. 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.