ZIP 60401 vs ZIP 60417

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60401 (Beecher, IL) and ZIP 60417 (Crete, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60401 has a population of 7,797 at 53 people per square mile, while ZIP 60417 has 15,547 at 154 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 60401 reports a median household income of $97,569 against $91,952 in ZIP 60417, with per-capita income of $48,062 vs $53,325. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.8% in 60401 and 30.4% in 60417. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 5.5%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 4.9% — 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 $260,500 in 60401 versus $243,100 in 60417, with median rent of $1,095 and $1,391 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 89.9%. 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.