ZIP 62624 vs ZIP 61501

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62624 (Browning, IL) and ZIP 61501 (Astoria, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62624 has a population of 546 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 61501 has 1,921 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 62624 reports a median household income of $58,500 against $55,750 in ZIP 61501, with per-capita income of $29,685 vs $39,330. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 62624 and 17.8% in 61501. Poverty rate reads 12.1% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 2.3% 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 $73,500 in 62624 versus $80,200 in 61501, with median rent of — and $696 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.4% vs 75.4%. 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.