ZIP 60546 vs ZIP 60534

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60546 (Riverside, IL) and ZIP 60534 (Lyons, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60546 has a population of 15,668 at 1,562 people per square mile, while ZIP 60534 has 10,649 at 2,422 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 60546 reports a median household income of $113,533 against $70,890 in ZIP 60534, with per-capita income of $59,038 vs $31,968. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.7% in 60546 and 18.3% in 60534. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 14.0%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 4.6% — 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 $394,500 in 60546 versus $257,300 in 60534, with median rent of $1,367 and $1,196 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.7% vs 64.3%. 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.