AreaProfile

60085Waukegan, Illinois

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 60085.

63
Area Score
Top 48% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3176th of 4,073 published ZIP areas41
Growth3079th of 3,947 published ZIP areas33
Housing affordabilityTop 19% of 4,553 published ZIP areas93
Climate3885th of 4,621 published ZIP areas60
Physical resilienceTop 23% of 4,554 published ZIP areas80
Access3345th of 4,623 published ZIP areas88
Economic stability2421st of 4,591 published ZIP areas58
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places 60085 in the bottom 22%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 21% of median household income.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 60085 in the top 23% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
72,341
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,793
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
4,884/sq mi
14.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Waukegan
Illinois
Metro area
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
Nearest major airport
ORD
26 mi · Chicago O'Hare Intl
Median home value
$177,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 42% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 43,449 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,077$66,793Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,449$29,337Bottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.5%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.3 minBottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher18.5%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment43,449Bottom 47%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.3%Bottom 28%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Top 48%June 2026
Labor force45,611Bottom 48%June 2026
Labor force participation67.6%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,380Top 29%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,720Top 32%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.3%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 42%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,793 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand157,920$40,550
General and Operations Managers122,930$109,390
Home Health and Personal Care Aides108,520$38,180
Registered Nurses100,240$100,490
Cashiers99,240$35,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers97,280$34,630

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Waukegan, IL, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,161 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
20.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,161
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$177,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.66Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate48.2%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±81426,674Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$29$1,161Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,998$177,400Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.9%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.2%Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
33/ 100
Ranks 3079 of 3,947 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
13
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
+86%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Waukegan, IL, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.3 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHICAGO WAUKEGAN RGNL AP, 4.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation35.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

80 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave.

TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, strong wind, hail, earthquake, ice storm, winter weather, landslide, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 26 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD26 mi11,245 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY56 mi8,859 ft
South Bend IntlSBN91 mi8,412 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
63
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

60085 vs Waukegan

How this ZIP area compares with Waukegan as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

60085
Waukegan
Median household income
$66,793
vs
$71,919
Per capita income
$29,337
vs
$33,249
Population density
4,884/sq mi
vs
3,672/sq mi
Median home value
$177,400
vs
$190,900
Median gross rent
$1,161
vs
$1,205
Homeownership rate
48.2%
vs
50.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
18.5%
vs
20.9%
Poverty rate
16.5%
vs
15.3%
Median age
34.6
vs
35.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.