ZIP 62615 vs ZIP 62689

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62615 (Auburn, IL) and ZIP 62689 (Thayer, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62615 has a population of 5,748 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 62689 has 518 at 326 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 62615 reports a median household income of $84,632 against $61,500 in ZIP 62689, with per-capita income of $39,708 vs $40,082. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.8% in 62615 and 14.1% in 62689. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 6.1%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 3.9% — 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 $165,400 in 62615 versus $92,300 in 62689, with median rent of $1,072 and $923 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 92.2%. 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.