ZIP 61938 vs ZIP 61931

This side-by-side compares ZIP 61938 (Mattoon, IL) and ZIP 61931 (Humboldt, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 61938 has a population of 22,409 at 69 people per square mile, while ZIP 61931 has 1,255 at 15 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 61938 reports a median household income of $57,503 against $74,125 in ZIP 61931, with per-capita income of $33,570 vs $32,710. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 61938 and 17.0% in 61931. Poverty rate reads 17.7% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 8.3% — 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 $111,700 in 61938 versus $135,000 in 61931, with median rent of $740 and $851 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.2% vs 78.6%. 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.