ZIP 62223 vs ZIP 62226

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62223 (Belleville, IL) and ZIP 62226 (Belleville, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62223 has a population of 17,560 at 268 people per square mile, while ZIP 62226 has 29,744 at 824 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 62223 reports a median household income of $73,700 against $70,797 in ZIP 62226, with per-capita income of $39,798 vs $39,385. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.9% in 62223 and 32.1% in 62226. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 14.1%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 5.7% — 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 $159,400 in 62223 versus $167,000 in 62226, with median rent of $1,054 and $1,008 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.4% vs 67.0%. 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.