ZIP 60305 vs ZIP 60301

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60305 (River Forest, IL) and ZIP 60301 (Oak Park, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60305 has a population of 11,172 at 1,742 people per square mile, while ZIP 60301 has 2,539 at 6,261 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 60305 reports a median household income of $146,786 against $99,167 in ZIP 60301, with per-capita income of $91,438 vs $75,642. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.9% in 60305 and 72.8% in 60301. Poverty rate reads 2.7% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 8.1% vs 1.7% — 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 $687,300 in 60305 versus $247,000 in 60301, with median rent of $1,554 and $2,292 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.7% vs 13.2%. 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.