ZIP 62476 vs ZIP 62452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62476 (West Salem, IL) and ZIP 62452 (Parkersburg, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62476 has a population of 1,734 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 62452 has 400 at 8 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 62476 reports a median household income of $65,543 against $78,036 in ZIP 62452, with per-capita income of $37,712 vs $37,601. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.0% in 62476 and 2.1% in 62452. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 11.7%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 1.0% — 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 $91,800 in 62476 versus $78,300 in 62452, with median rent of $833 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 93.6%. 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.