ZIP 62436 vs ZIP 62445

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62436 (Jewett, IL) and ZIP 62445 (Montrose, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62436 has a population of 562 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 62445 has 907 at 7 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 62436 reports a median household income of $63,229 against $81,484 in ZIP 62445, with per-capita income of $29,754 vs $33,543. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.3% in 62436 and 9.6% in 62445. Poverty rate reads 18.0% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 0.3% — 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 $102,400 in 62436 versus $184,100 in 62445, with median rent of — and $392 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.3% vs 93.4%. 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.