ZIP 62862 vs ZIP 62820

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62862 (Mill Shoals, IL) and ZIP 62820 (Burnt Prairie, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62862 has a population of 364 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 62820 has 162 at 3 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 62862 reports a median household income of $59,125 against — in ZIP 62820, with per-capita income of $40,332 vs $62,103. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.0% in 62862 and 53.5% in 62820. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 30.2%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 63.3% — 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 $68,800 in 62862 versus — in 62820, with median rent of $823 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.0% 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.