ZIP 60616 vs ZIP 60605

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60616 (Chicago, IL) and ZIP 60605 (Chicago, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60616 has a population of 48,433 at 4,677 people per square mile, while ZIP 60605 has 24,668 at 7,648 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 60616 reports a median household income of $73,819 against $123,922 in ZIP 60605, with per-capita income of $49,091 vs $86,529. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.8% in 60616 and 82.9% in 60605. Poverty rate reads 18.0% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 7.2% vs 5.8% — 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 $387,200 in 60616 versus $453,200 in 60605, with median rent of $1,342 and $2,464 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 39.5% vs 42.3%. 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.