ZIP 62846 vs ZIP 62897

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62846 (Ina, 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 62846 has a population of 2,631 at 48 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 62846 reports a median household income of $65,500 against $78,125 in ZIP 62897, with per-capita income of $13,316 vs $27,234. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.4% in 62846 and 12.6% in 62897. Poverty rate reads 19.3% vs 25.8%, and unemployment 10.1% 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 $103,300 in 62846 versus $89,300 in 62897, with median rent of $536 and $967 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.5% 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.