ZIP 62097 vs ZIP 62046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62097 (Worden, IL) and ZIP 62046 (Hamel, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62097 has a population of 2,828 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 62046 has 713 at 345 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 62097 reports a median household income of $91,011 against $108,036 in ZIP 62046, with per-capita income of $44,606 vs $41,708. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 62097 and 35.4% in 62046. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 0.7% — 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 $217,900 in 62097 versus $250,000 in 62046, with median rent of $2,090 and $954 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.7% vs 75.6%. 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.