Best Places60438, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 60438, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
60438 ranks 24,323rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 60438
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
60438's strengths and weaknesses
Where 60438 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 89% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 60438 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 60438
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 60438 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,298, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 60438's effective rate of 2.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 60438
60438's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 60438.
Who works in 60438, and how
Work in 60438 centers on transportation & warehousing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 60438
60438 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 71% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 60438 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 60438, month by month
60438 sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 60438
Chicago Midway International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 60438
Schools across 60438 average a D−, better than 3% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Coolidge Elementary SchoolD · 16% proficient
- Oak Glen Elem SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Greenwood Elem SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Memorial Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Brookwood Jr High SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Thornton Fractnl So High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Thornwood High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 60438 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
60438 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 60438 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 60438 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 60438
Is 60438 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 60438 ranks 24,323rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 60438 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,026. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $81,298 median income, cost of living beats 59% of zip codes.
Is 60438 safe?
60438 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 60438?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 20. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of zip codes.
Is 60438 good for families?
Schools beat 3% of zip codes, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Compare 60438 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 60438. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 60438 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
60438 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 60438: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 60438: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 60438: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 60438: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
60438 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.