ZIP 62047 vs ZIP 62031

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62047 (Hardin, IL) and ZIP 62031 (Fieldon, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62047 has a population of 1,555 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 62031 has 970 at 7 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 62047 reports a median household income of $116,250 against $84,375 in ZIP 62031, with per-capita income of $40,244 vs $40,402. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.0% in 62047 and 15.4% in 62031. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 1.3% — 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 $179,000 in 62047 versus $118,800 in 62031, with median rent of $476 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.0% vs 89.8%. 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.