ZIP 62822 vs ZIP 62865

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62822 (Christopher, IL) and ZIP 62865 (Mulkeytown, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62822 has a population of 2,574 at 369 people per square mile, while ZIP 62865 has 2,018 at 14 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 62822 reports a median household income of $47,770 against $67,798 in ZIP 62865, with per-capita income of $27,713 vs $45,935. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.3% in 62822 and 14.4% in 62865. Poverty rate reads 20.6% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 6.2% — 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 $67,600 in 62822 versus $153,200 in 62865, with median rent of $725 and $1,039 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.5% vs 94.0%. 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.