ZIP 62884 vs ZIP 62891

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62884 (Sesser, IL) and ZIP 62891 (Valier, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62884 has a population of 2,940 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 62891 has 652 at 334 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 62884 reports a median household income of $58,679 against $27,344 in ZIP 62891, with per-capita income of $28,351 vs $26,783. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.9% in 62884 and 7.1% in 62891. Poverty rate reads 18.3% vs 33.3%, and unemployment 6.3% 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 $97,200 in 62884 versus $78,500 in 62891, with median rent of $724 and $1,144 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.4% vs 80.0%. 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.