ZIP 62836 vs ZIP 62897

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62836 (Ewing, IL) and ZIP 62897 (Whittington, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62836 has a population of 801 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 62897 has 398 at 12 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 62836 reports a median household income of $73,281 against $78,125 in ZIP 62897, with per-capita income of $33,555 vs $27,234. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.9% in 62836 and 12.6% in 62897. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 25.8%, and unemployment 1.6% vs 8.9% — 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 $123,900 in 62836 versus $89,300 in 62897, with median rent of $1,042 and $967 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.1% vs 79.8%. 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.