ZIP 62895 vs ZIP 62886

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62895 (Wayne City, IL) and ZIP 62886 (Sims, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62895 has a population of 2,022 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 62886 has 440 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 62895 reports a median household income of $51,131 against $61,250 in ZIP 62886, with per-capita income of $30,589 vs $33,412. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.4% in 62895 and 11.3% in 62886. Poverty rate reads 11.8% vs 4.2%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 3.3% — 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 $117,800 in 62895 versus $127,100 in 62886, with median rent of $688 and $691 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.3% vs 85.9%. 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.