ZIP 62914 vs ZIP 62988

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62914 (Cairo, IL) and ZIP 62988 (Tamms, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62914 has a population of 3,147 at 62 people per square mile, while ZIP 62988 has 2,110 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 62914 reports a median household income of $41,103 against $54,779 in ZIP 62988, with per-capita income of $25,611 vs $31,558. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.3% in 62914 and 16.3% in 62988. Poverty rate reads 18.7% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 13.8% vs 1.4% — 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 $31,900 in 62914 versus $65,800 in 62988, with median rent of $515 and $493 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% 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.