ZIP 62912 vs ZIP 62939

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62912 (Buncombe, IL) and ZIP 62939 (Goreville, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62912 has a population of 1,179 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 62939 has 3,119 at 27 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 62912 reports a median household income of $63,750 against $65,750 in ZIP 62939, with per-capita income of $25,260 vs $38,469. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.1% in 62912 and 41.4% in 62939. Poverty rate reads 23.9% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 1.2% — 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 $108,500 in 62912 versus $173,000 in 62939, with median rent of $818 and $968 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.2% vs 88.6%. 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.