ZIP 60409 vs ZIP 60438

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60409 (Calumet City, IL) and ZIP 60438 (Lansing, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60409 has a population of 37,186 at 1,929 people per square mile, while ZIP 60438 has 28,884 at 1,404 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 60409 reports a median household income of $55,369 against $75,681 in ZIP 60438, with per-capita income of $28,113 vs $36,133. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 60409 and 27.9% in 60438. Poverty rate reads 23.4% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 10.6% vs 9.6% — 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 $145,200 in 60409 versus $177,700 in 60438, with median rent of $1,177 and $1,271 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.7% vs 72.3%. 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.