ZIP 62292 vs ZIP 62257

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62292 (Tilden, IL) and ZIP 62257 (Marissa, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62292 has a population of 947 at 250 people per square mile, while ZIP 62257 has 3,214 at 17 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 62292 reports a median household income of $47,857 against $78,750 in ZIP 62257, with per-capita income of $30,656 vs $36,823. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.6% in 62292 and 13.5% in 62257. Poverty rate reads 28.7% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 15.0% vs 8.6% — 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 $70,300 in 62292 versus $138,100 in 62257, with median rent of $743 and $713 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.9% vs 81.0%. 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.