ZIP 61949 vs ZIP 61917

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61949 (Redmon, IL) and ZIP 61917 (Brocton, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61949 has a population of 179 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 61917 has 591 at 4 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 61949 reports a median household income of $69,375 against $62,875 in ZIP 61917, with per-capita income of $41,159 vs $34,634. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.6% in 61949 and 17.9% in 61917. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 8.8% vs 2.1% — 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 $77,900 in 61949 versus $88,000 in 61917, with median rent of $850 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 95.4%. 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.