Des Plaines vs Palatine

A side-by-side comparison of Des Plaines and Palatine: population, income, housing, and more.

Des Plaines and Palatine are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Palatine has the higher population (66,548 vs 59,408 in Des Plaines). Palatine has the higher median household income ($95,950 vs $94,303 in Des Plaines). Palatine has the higher median home value ($347,900 vs $318,200 in Des Plaines).

Population, income & housing

	Des Plaines	Palatine
Population	59,408	66,548
Median age	42.8 yrs	39.6 yrs
Median household income	$94,303	$95,950
Median home value	$318,200	$347,900
Median gross rent	$1,435	$1,467
Housing units	23,973	28,170
Homeownership rate	79.4%	67.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	38.7%	49.8%
Unemployment rate	4.6%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Des Plaines	Palatine
Population	58,673 → 59,408 (+1.3%)	68,407 → 66,548 (-2.7%)
Median household income	$69,760 → $94,303 (+35.2%)	$80,526 → $95,950 (+19.2%)
Median home value	$256,700 → $318,200 (+24.0%)	$284,400 → $347,900 (+22.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,144 → $1,435 (+25.4%)	$1,200 → $1,467 (+22.3%)

Des Plaines

Population

58,67359,408

Median household income

$69,760$94,303

Median home value

$256,700$318,200

Median gross rent

$1,144$1,435

Palatine

Population

68,40766,548

Median household income

$80,526$95,950

Median home value

$284,400$347,900

Median gross rent

$1,200$1,467

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Des Plaines	Palatine
Under 5	5.1%	5.7%
5 to 17	15.2%	16.7%
18 to 24	7.0%	7.3%
25 to 34	12.3%	14.4%
35 to 44	12.8%	12.2%
45 to 54	12.2%	13.6%
55 to 64	15.1%	13.9%
65 to 74	11.3%	9.8%
75 and over	9.1%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Des Plaines	Palatine
White (non-Hispanic)	55.8%	59.7%
Black or African American	3.5%	5.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	14.1%	12.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race	0.6%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.7%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	23.2%	19.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Des Plaines	Palatine
No high school diploma	10.9%	8.9%
High school graduate	22.3%	17.3%
Some college or associate's	28.1%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	25.0%	31.2%
Graduate or professional degree	13.6%	18.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Des Plaines	Palatine
Drove alone	69.7%	70.7%
Carpooled	10.9%	5.9%
Public transit	4.4%	2.3%
Walked	1.7%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.6%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.6%	18.0%
Other means	1.1%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Des Plaines	Palatine
1-unit, detached	59.4%	43.4%
1-unit, attached	8.3%	14.7%
2 to 4 units	2.9%	7.3%
5 to 19 units	7.4%	21.4%
20 or more units	19.8%	13.1%
Mobile home & other	2.2%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Des Plaines	Palatine
Poverty rate	5.8%	10.1%
Average household size	2.58	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	28	28
Median year structure built	1966	1977