ZIP 60714 vs ZIP 60631

This side-by-side compares ZIP 60714 (Niles, IL) and ZIP 60631 (Chicago, IL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 60714 has a population of 29,931 at 1,817 people per square mile, while ZIP 60631 has 28,641 at 2,972 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 60714 reports a median household income of $75,800 against $115,000 in ZIP 60631, with per-capita income of $40,446 vs $56,780. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.3% in 60714 and 51.8% in 60631. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 3.6% — 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 $358,900 in 60714 versus $436,400 in 60631, with median rent of $1,336 and $1,659 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.8% vs 75.3%. 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.