ZIP 62022 vs ZIP 62028

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62022 (Dow, IL) and ZIP 62028 (Elsah, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62022 has a population of 1,138 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 62028 has 1,276 at 84 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 62022 reports a median household income of $110,703 against $72,031 in ZIP 62028, with per-capita income of $38,519 vs $25,968. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.2% in 62022 and 53.0% in 62028. Poverty rate reads 1.1% vs 11.2%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 6.1% — 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 $188,300 in 62022 versus $170,900 in 62028, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 64.8%. 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.