ZIP 62535 vs ZIP 62526

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62535 (Forsyth, 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 62535 has a population of 3,534 at 367 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 62535 reports a median household income of $112,000 against $49,062 in ZIP 62526, with per-capita income of $61,077 vs $31,798. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.3% in 62535 and 20.7% in 62526. Poverty rate reads 11.3% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 4.6% 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 $281,000 in 62535 versus $95,100 in 62526, with median rent of $1,222 and $833 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.6% 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.