ZIP 60654 vs ZIP 60606

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60654 (Chicago, IL) and ZIP 60606 (Chicago, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60654 has a population of 14,875 at 10,155 people per square mile, while ZIP 60606 has 2,308 at 4,051 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 60654 reports a median household income of $147,357 against $128,609 in ZIP 60606, with per-capita income of $128,530 vs $178,211. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 91.5% in 60654 and 93.6% in 60606. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 2.4% — 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 $500,400 in 60654 versus $416,400 in 60606, with median rent of $2,633 and $2,484 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 34.2% vs 29.6%. 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.