Top 5 suburbs by region (North, West & South)

[gregbuck]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Per capita income is the collective income of a town divided by the total number of residents. There's no median value because every resident has the same value after dividing. It's also not an accurate way to judge wealth. If I live in a small town of 50, where 49 people earn $35k/year and one person earns $2mm/year, the per capita income of my town is $75k. Hardly an accurate representation of my hypothetical town's situation.

Median numbers are more frequently cited than per capita numbers because they are typically a better representation of income within towns, especially small ones like Flossmoor and Olympia Fields. Below is a comparison of median family income across the suburban regions.

For example, the median household income of the gold coast (60611) is only $85,642. But, per capita income for the gold coast is $107,019 . More indicative of the actual wealth.


64,750 : Niles

Median household income just has way too many variables to be compared across different neighborhoods. That you have to take into account for it to be an accurate measure when comparing community wealth. How large are these "households"? A family of 6 who is earning $100k per year. Is not doing nearly as well as a single person or empty nester couple who is earning $100,000 a year. Per capita income is a clean number. And can be comparable across different suburban neighborhoods as well as city communities. And is a much better measure of actual community wealth.

For example, the median household income of the Gold Coast (60611) is only $85,642. But per capita income for the Gold Coast is $107,019. Much more indicative of the actual wealth of the residents living in that area.

[PrairieGirl]

Lookout Kid, I am curious, what southern suburbs are half your family from that you wouldn't recommend? I completely understand how NW Indiana "completely understands" (rolling my eyes) but please enlighten the rest of us.

Blacknwhiterose, nice shout out to Highwood/Ft. Sheridan! My Italian grandparents lived there when I was growing up, but I believe they drove to HP for shopping and of course, "the rocket" park. It seemed very small and safe, but so many towns were back then.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by PrairieGirl

Lookout Kid, I am curious, what southern suburbs are half your family from that you wouldn't recommend? I completely understand how NW Indiana "completely understands" (rolling my eyes) but please enlighten the rest of us.

Lovely locales like Calumet City, Whiting, East Chicago, and Hammond. Some further west too, but not for long. If you think these are nice places to live, I'd love to hear your case. My family left the area years ago now.

[ChiAreaGuy]

Originally Posted by 4122

Nice list! I like how you added runner ups. But where is Hickory Corners? And I don't think Aptakistic is a town. Maybe you're referring to Prairie View, which is between Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire?

Grayslake is very nice by the lake and the fact that it has Grays Lake ties it with Gurnee and also the schools are good compared to surrounding areas for the most part. Your right the North Shore should be separate. Here's my North Shore list:

1. HP
2. Evanston
3. Kenilworth
4. Glencoe
5. Lake Forest

Hickory Corners is between Antioch TOWN, and Gurnee. It is considered as Antioch by address, but has different schools, fire department etc. Neighborhood similar to Gurnee, Wadsworth, maybe even AH, but more relaxed and newer feel, with it's big brother's big box stores in the area(Sleepy's, Aldi, Menards).

Prairie View probs isn't a town either, but a neighborhood, like HC.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by ChiAreaGuy

Hickory Corners is between Antioch TOWN, and Gurnee. It is considered as Antioch by address, but has different schools, fire department etc. Neighborhood similar to Gurnee, Wadsworth, maybe even AH, but more relaxed and newer feel, with it's big brother's big box stores in the area(Sleepy's, Aldi, Menards).

Prairie View probs isn't a town either, but a neighborhood, like HC.

You are right about Prairie View. It is an unincorporated area between BG and Lincolnshire. Part of it is completely surrounded by BG, but has not been annexed. It is not a separate town.

[bigsmoke3238]

Originally Posted by Runuova

Name your top 5 suburbs for each region regardless to how you feel about the area. I don't know enough to form a list on my own but I'm pretty sure you guys will not only enlighten me but anyone else looking into either region.

I'm not looking for a particular price point or budget, I'm just curious as to what you consider the top 5 for each region.

West: Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Oakbrook
North: Highland Park, Wilmette, Northbrook, Lake Forest, Libertyville

[Argon18]

Lincolnshire/Riverwoods is basically a part of Long Grove/Buffalo Grove

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by Slam4444

For me, in the west, it would be Oak Park, Elmhurst, River Forest, Hinsdale, Wheaton (or Glen Ellyn).

better than flammidle's odd list.