ZIP 61870 vs ZIP 61846

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61870 (Ridge Farm, IL) and ZIP 61846 (Georgetown, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61870 has a population of 1,327 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 61846 has 5,101 at 45 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 61870 reports a median household income of $54,044 against $60,871 in ZIP 61846, with per-capita income of $27,300 vs $30,579. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.3% in 61870 and 16.9% in 61846. Poverty rate reads 7.8% vs 17.2%, and unemployment 8.0% 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 $74,800 in 61870 versus $85,700 in 61846, with median rent of $690 and $780 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.1% vs 79.4%. 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.