ZIP 62899 vs ZIP 62849

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62899 (Xenia, IL) and ZIP 62849 (Iuka, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62899 has a population of 1,612 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 62849 has 2,205 at 8 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 62899 reports a median household income of $55,482 against $60,789 in ZIP 62849, with per-capita income of $22,352 vs $30,056. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.0% in 62899 and 13.5% in 62849. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 11.7%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 6.2% — 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 $147,800 in 62899 versus $87,800 in 62849, with median rent of $494 and $678 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.1% vs 90.1%. 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.