ZIP 62203 vs ZIP 62204

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62203 (East Saint Louis, IL) and ZIP 62204 (East Saint Louis, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62203 has a population of 8,209 at 477 people per square mile, while ZIP 62204 has 7,960 at 549 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 62203 reports a median household income of $42,111 against $35,346 in ZIP 62204, with per-capita income of $25,390 vs $19,433. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 62203 and 10.5% in 62204. Poverty rate reads 24.3% vs 27.3%, and unemployment 15.4% vs 17.2% — 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 $68,700 in 62203 versus $47,800 in 62204, with median rent of $1,050 and $831 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.6% vs 77.1%. 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.