ZIP 60606 vs ZIP 60661

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60606 (Chicago, IL) and ZIP 60661 (Chicago, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60606 has a population of 2,308 at 4,051 people per square mile, while ZIP 60661 has 7,792 at 10,121 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 60606 reports a median household income of $128,609 against $125,741 in ZIP 60661, with per-capita income of $178,211 vs $118,222. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 93.6% in 60606 and 87.3% in 60661. Poverty rate reads 4.5% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 2.4% 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 $416,400 in 60606 versus $392,900 in 60661, with median rent of $2,484 and $2,306 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 29.6% vs 26.6%. 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.