ZIP 60404 vs ZIP 60431

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60404 (Shorewood, IL) and ZIP 60431 (Joliet, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60404 has a population of 17,395 at 430 people per square mile, while ZIP 60431 has 22,577 at 641 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 60404 reports a median household income of $122,171 against $122,870 in ZIP 60431, with per-capita income of $49,144 vs $45,045. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.1% in 60404 and 32.9% in 60431. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 5.1%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 2.6% — 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 $335,800 in 60404 versus $294,300 in 60431, with median rent of $1,779 and $1,410 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.1% vs 93.1%. 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.