ZIP 62451 vs ZIP 47861

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62451 (Palestine, IL) and ZIP 47861 (Merom, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62451 has a population of 2,156 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 47861 has 616 at 5 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 62451 reports a median household income of $63,665 against $56,484 in ZIP 47861, with per-capita income of $36,401 vs $31,733. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.6% in 62451 and 23.8% in 47861. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 8.2% — 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 $89,600 in 62451 versus $198,800 in 47861, with median rent of $738 and $1,077 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.8% vs 83.7%. 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.