ZIP 62868 vs ZIP 62824

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62868 (Noble, IL) and ZIP 62824 (Clay City, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62868 has a population of 1,872 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 62824 has 1,761 at 6 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 62868 reports a median household income of $61,645 against $61,591 in ZIP 62824, with per-capita income of $27,905 vs $27,811. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.5% in 62868 and 12.4% in 62824. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 24.8%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 7.4% — 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 $116,300 in 62868 versus $102,100 in 62824, with median rent of $539 and $607 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.2% vs 85.0%. 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.