ZIP 62553 vs ZIP 62557

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62553 (Oconee, IL) and ZIP 62557 (Pana, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62553 has a population of 437 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 62557 has 7,607 at 24 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 62553 reports a median household income of $92,083 against $51,389 in ZIP 62557, with per-capita income of $39,572 vs $33,243. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.0% in 62553 and 18.6% in 62557. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 11.5% vs 6.4% — 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 $111,900 in 62553 versus $88,900 in 62557, with median rent of $850 and $702 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.6% vs 71.2%. 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.