ZIP 62450 vs ZIP 62868

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62450 (Olney, IL) and ZIP 62868 (Noble, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62450 has a population of 12,218 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 62868 has 1,872 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 62450 reports a median household income of $62,096 against $61,645 in ZIP 62868, with per-capita income of $33,807 vs $27,905. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.9% in 62450 and 10.5% in 62868. Poverty rate reads 12.0% vs 10.5%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 3.7% — 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 $116,500 in 62450 versus $116,300 in 62868, with median rent of $809 and $539 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.5% vs 85.2%. 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.