ZIP 60142 vs ZIP 60156

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60142 (Huntley, IL) and ZIP 60156 (Lake In The Hills, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60142 has a population of 26,447 at 255 people per square mile, while ZIP 60156 has 28,987 at 992 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 60142 reports a median household income of $89,735 against $117,151 in ZIP 60156, with per-capita income of $50,938 vs $44,465. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.2% in 60142 and 35.8% in 60156. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 4.1%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 5.9% — 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 $339,900 in 60142 versus $321,900 in 60156, with median rent of $1,613 and $1,689 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.3% vs 84.4%. 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.