ZIP 62689 vs ZIP 62690

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62689 (Thayer, IL) and ZIP 62690 (Virden, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62689 has a population of 518 at 326 people per square mile, while ZIP 62690 has 4,120 at 32 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 62689 reports a median household income of $61,500 against $84,196 in ZIP 62690, with per-capita income of $40,082 vs $36,347. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.1% in 62689 and 13.5% in 62690. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 6.0% — 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 $92,300 in 62689 versus $118,300 in 62690, with median rent of $923 and $864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.2% vs 72.0%. 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.