ZIP 60527 vs ZIP 60561

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60527 (Willowbrook, IL) and ZIP 60561 (Darien, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60527 has a population of 27,486 at 732 people per square mile, while ZIP 60561 has 23,115 at 1,430 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 60527 reports a median household income of $106,543 against $112,549 in ZIP 60561, with per-capita income of $70,997 vs $56,194. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.4% in 60527 and 51.9% in 60561. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 4.0%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 3.9% — 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 $501,700 in 60527 versus $404,300 in 60561, with median rent of $1,602 and $1,853 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.2% vs 79.7%. 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.