ZIP 62817 vs ZIP 62829

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62817 (Broughton, IL) and ZIP 62829 (Dale, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62817 has a population of 557 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 62829 has 72 at 16 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 62817 reports a median household income of $105,625 against — in ZIP 62829, with per-capita income of $43,066 vs $65,618. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 62817 and 40.9% in 62829. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 9.1% — 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 $453,200 in 62817 versus — in 62829, with median rent of $906 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% 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.