ZIP 62942 vs ZIP 62940

This side-by-side compares ZIP 62942 (Grand Tower, IL) and ZIP 62940 (Gorham, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 62942 has a population of 707 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 62940 has 445 at 7 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 62942 reports a median household income of $36,458 against $64,375 in ZIP 62940, with per-capita income of $24,753 vs $21,469. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 1.7% in 62942 and 10.0% in 62940. Poverty rate reads 32.0% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 13.6% — 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 $51,600 in 62942 versus $29,400 in 62940, with median rent of $682 and $722 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.1% vs 62.6%. 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.