ZIP 60604 vs ZIP 60603

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60604 (Chicago, IL) and ZIP 60603 (Chicago, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60604 has a population of 570 at 2,377 people per square mile, while ZIP 60603 has 493 at 1,314 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 60604 reports a median household income of $81,658 against $133,545 in ZIP 60603, with per-capita income of $132,803 vs $100,340. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 95.4% in 60604 and 94.8% in 60603. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 14.1%, and unemployment 8.7% vs 4.0% — 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 $597,100 in 60604 versus $633,900 in 60603, with median rent of $2,412 and $2,207 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 55.5% vs 57.6%. 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.