ZIP 62841 vs ZIP 62948

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62841 (Freeman Spur, IL) and ZIP 62948 (Herrin, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62841 has a population of 98 at 386 people per square mile, while ZIP 62948 has 12,865 at 265 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 62841 reports a median household income of $31,750 against $60,975 in ZIP 62948, with per-capita income of $24,656 vs $35,816. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.8% in 62841 and 22.6% in 62948. Poverty rate reads 23.7% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.1% — 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 $60,600 in 62841 versus $116,700 in 62948, with median rent of — and $1,000 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.2% vs 66.3%. 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.