ZIP 62618 vs ZIP 62622

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62618 (Beardstown, IL) and ZIP 62622 (Bluff Springs, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62618 has a population of 7,955 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 62622 has 49 at 10 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 62618 reports a median household income of $65,208 against — in ZIP 62622, with per-capita income of $29,769 vs $29,100. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.3% in 62618 and 29.8% in 62622. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 0.0% — 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 $89,100 in 62618 versus — in 62622, with median rent of $752 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.2% 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.