ZIP 62521 vs ZIP 62526

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62521 (Decatur, IL) and ZIP 62526 (Decatur, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62521 has a population of 35,851 at 207 people per square mile, while ZIP 62526 has 34,075 at 213 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 62521 reports a median household income of $66,337 against $49,062 in ZIP 62526, with per-capita income of $38,059 vs $31,798. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 62521 and 20.7% in 62526. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 8.5% — 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 $125,100 in 62521 versus $95,100 in 62526, with median rent of $926 and $833 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.5% vs 60.8%. 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.