ZIP 60074 vs ZIP 60008

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60074 (Palatine, IL) and ZIP 60008 (Rolling Meadows, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60074 has a population of 38,985 at 2,111 people per square mile, while ZIP 60008 has 22,717 at 1,697 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 60074 reports a median household income of $84,089 against $94,336 in ZIP 60008, with per-capita income of $41,614 vs $43,303. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.4% in 60074 and 41.5% in 60008. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 4.1% — 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 $315,500 in 60074 versus $317,900 in 60008, with median rent of $1,486 and $1,599 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.6% vs 70.8%. 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.