ZIP 60097 vs ZIP 60072

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60097 (Wonder Lake, IL) and ZIP 60072 (Ringwood, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60097 has a population of 11,250 at 295 people per square mile, while ZIP 60072 has 928 at 45 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 60097 reports a median household income of $93,397 against $119,375 in ZIP 60072, with per-capita income of $39,963 vs $57,511. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 60097 and 38.6% in 60072. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 2.0%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 2.8% — 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 $229,700 in 60097 versus $413,900 in 60072, with median rent of $1,417 and $1,025 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.6% vs 94.3%. 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.