ZIP 60561 vs ZIP 60516

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60561 (Darien, IL) and ZIP 60516 (Downers Grove, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60561 has a population of 23,115 at 1,430 people per square mile, while ZIP 60516 has 29,084 at 1,422 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 60561 reports a median household income of $112,549 against $115,480 in ZIP 60516, with per-capita income of $56,194 vs $58,702. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 51.9% in 60561 and 51.7% in 60516. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 5.6% — 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 $404,300 in 60561 versus $441,100 in 60516, with median rent of $1,853 and $1,676 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.7% vs 78.9%. 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.