ZIP 60403 vs ZIP 60435

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60403 (Crest Hill, IL) and ZIP 60435 (Joliet, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60403 has a population of 17,529 at 1,035 people per square mile, while ZIP 60435 has 48,899 at 1,764 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 60403 reports a median household income of $73,074 against $76,369 in ZIP 60435, with per-capita income of $38,935 vs $36,014. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.2% in 60403 and 24.6% in 60435. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 14.3%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 5.2% — 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 $233,200 in 60403 versus $235,500 in 60435, with median rent of $1,481 and $1,168 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.4% vs 66.4%. 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.