ZIP 60420 vs ZIP 60424

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60420 (Dwight, IL) and ZIP 60424 (Gardner, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60420 has a population of 6,102 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 60424 has 2,440 at 18 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 60420 reports a median household income of $71,157 against $83,250 in ZIP 60424, with per-capita income of $38,604 vs $39,013. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.4% in 60420 and 17.8% in 60424. Poverty rate reads 9.7% vs 15.0%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 10.0% - 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 $167,100 in 60420 versus $197,400 in 60424, with median rent of $997 and $1,035 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.7% vs 70.4%. 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.