ZIP 62526 vs ZIP 62535

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62526 (Decatur, IL) and ZIP 62535 (Forsyth, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62526 has a population of 34,075 at 213 people per square mile, while ZIP 62535 has 3,534 at 367 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 62526 reports a median household income of $49,062 against $112,000 in ZIP 62535, with per-capita income of $31,798 vs $61,077. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.7% in 62526 and 59.3% in 62535. Poverty rate reads 18.2% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 8.5% vs 4.6% — 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 $95,100 in 62526 versus $281,000 in 62535, with median rent of $833 and $1,222 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.8% vs 92.6%. 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.