ZIP 62018 vs ZIP 62024

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62018 (Cottage Hills, IL) and ZIP 62024 (East Alton, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62018 has a population of 3,604 at 438 people per square mile, while ZIP 62024 has 9,775 at 605 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 62018 reports a median household income of $40,438 against $56,761 in ZIP 62024, with per-capita income of $20,073 vs $32,461. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.3% in 62018 and 20.3% in 62024. Poverty rate reads 30.8% vs 14.9%, and unemployment 9.0% vs 2.6% - 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 $70,200 in 62018 versus $126,500 in 62024, with median rent of $1,052 and $895 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.0% vs 72.9%. 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.