ZIP 62824 vs ZIP 62879

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62824 (Clay City, IL) and ZIP 62879 (Sailor Springs, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62824 has a population of 1,761 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 62879 has 85 at 160 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 62824 reports a median household income of $61,591 against $26,964 in ZIP 62879, with per-capita income of $27,811 vs $18,271. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 62824 and 5.0% in 62879. Poverty rate reads 24.8% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 7.4% 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 $102,100 in 62824 versus $23,200 in 62879, with median rent of $607 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.0% 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.