ZIP 62917 vs ZIP 62987

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62917 (Carrier Mills, IL) and ZIP 62987 (Stonefort, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62917 has a population of 2,305 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 62987 has 1,174 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 62917 reports a median household income of $50,119 against $83,393 in ZIP 62987, with per-capita income of $44,092 vs $33,536. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.2% in 62917 and 14.7% in 62987. Poverty rate reads 20.5% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 4.6% — 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 $73,400 in 62917 versus $112,600 in 62987, with median rent of $525 and $766 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.3% vs 87.2%. 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.