ZIP 62908 vs ZIP 62956

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62908 (Belknap, IL) and ZIP 62956 (Karnak, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62908 has a population of 467 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 62956 has 869 at 13 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 62908 reports a median household income of $90,083 against $73,462 in ZIP 62956, with per-capita income of $40,093 vs $28,981. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 62908 and 21.5% in 62956. Poverty rate reads 3.0% vs 16.0%, and unemployment 9.7% vs 6.9% — 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 $161,100 in 62908 versus $128,800 in 62956, with median rent of — and $693 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.6% vs 90.9%. 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.