ZIP 62551 vs ZIP 62537

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62551 (Niantic, IL) and ZIP 62537 (Harristown, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62551 has a population of 837 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 62537 has 92 at 38 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 62551 reports a median household income of $69,583 against $70,455 in ZIP 62537, with per-capita income of $34,708 vs $23,062. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.1% in 62551 and 6.0% in 62537. Poverty rate reads 7.8% vs 1.5%, and unemployment 10.4% vs 7.2% - 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 $129,200 in 62551 versus $87,500 in 62537, with median rent of $846 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.1% vs 100.0%. 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.