ZIP 62249 vs ZIP 62273

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62249 (Highland, IL) and ZIP 62273 (Pierron, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62249 has a population of 15,971 at 72 people per square mile, while ZIP 62273 has 426 at 122 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 62249 reports a median household income of $90,424 against $51,000 in ZIP 62273, with per-capita income of $50,065 vs $22,128. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.2% in 62249 and 6.5% in 62273. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 33.4%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 12.3% — 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 $227,700 in 62249 versus $101,500 in 62273, with median rent of $858 and $1,326 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 70.3%. 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.