ZIP 61863 vs ZIP 61880

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61863 (Pesotum, IL) and ZIP 61880 (Tolono, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61863 has a population of 814 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 61880 has 4,183 at 27 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 61863 reports a median household income of $78,125 against $85,536 in ZIP 61880, with per-capita income of $41,339 vs $40,416. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.4% in 61863 and 26.1% in 61880. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 10.8% - 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 $181,300 in 61863 versus $227,900 in 61880, with median rent of $1,554 and $906 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.6% vs 73.6%. 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.