ZIP 62512 vs ZIP 62518

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62512 (Beason, IL) and ZIP 62518 (Chestnut, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62512 has a population of 500 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 62518 has 457 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 62512 reports a median household income of $55,347 against — in ZIP 62518, with per-capita income of $25,084 vs $29,717. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.0% in 62512 and 14.3% in 62518. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 11.8%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $131,000 in 62512 versus $140,300 in 62518, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 95.6%. 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.