ZIP 62321 vs ZIP 62341

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62321 (Carthage, IL) and ZIP 62341 (Hamilton, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62321 has a population of 4,091 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 62341 has 3,610 at 30 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 62321 reports a median household income of $76,825 against $62,262 in ZIP 62341, with per-capita income of $39,795 vs $39,692. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.3% in 62321 and 22.4% in 62341. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 12.0%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 2.2% — 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 $123,700 in 62321 versus $136,900 in 62341, with median rent of $678 and $938 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.5% vs 73.1%. 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.