Buffalo Grove vs North Chicago

A side-by-side comparison of Buffalo Grove and North Chicago: population, income, housing, and more.

Buffalo Grove and North Chicago are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Buffalo Grove has the higher population (42,824 vs 30,772 in North Chicago). Buffalo Grove has the higher median household income ($129,820 vs $56,815 in North Chicago). Buffalo Grove has the higher median home value ($392,900 vs $147,800 in North Chicago).

Population, income & housing

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
Population	42,824	30,772
Median age	42.1 yrs	23.6 yrs
Median household income	$129,820	$56,815
Median home value	$392,900	$147,800
Median gross rent	$2,042	$1,392
Housing units	16,567	8,085
Homeownership rate	81.5%	33.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	66.6%	19.1%
Unemployment rate	2.5%	8.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
Population	41,062 → 42,824 (+4.3%)	29,971 → 30,772 (+2.7%)
Median household income	$115,951 → $129,820 (+12.0%)	$43,094 → $56,815 (+31.8%)
Median home value	$332,300 → $392,900 (+18.2%)	$108,100 → $147,800 (+36.7%)
Median gross rent	$1,643 → $2,042 (+24.3%)	$1,193 → $1,392 (+16.7%)

Buffalo Grove

Population

41,06242,824

Median household income

$115,951$129,820

Median home value

$332,300$392,900

Median gross rent

$1,643$2,042

North Chicago

Population

29,97130,772

Median household income

$43,094$56,815

Median home value

$108,100$147,800

Median gross rent

$1,193$1,392

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
Under 5	5.6%	5.5%
5 to 17	19.1%	12.5%
18 to 24	7.0%	37.0%
25 to 34	8.3%	18.8%
35 to 44	15.4%	8.4%
45 to 54	15.5%	5.5%
55 to 64	13.7%	5.5%
65 to 74	9.6%	4.5%
75 and over	5.9%	2.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
White (non-Hispanic)	58.6%	28.5%
Black or African American	3.7%	23.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	28.2%	4.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.7%
Two or more races	2.6%	3.7%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	38.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
No high school diploma	3.2%	18.9%
High school graduate	10.0%	29.9%
Some college or associate's	20.2%	32.1%
Bachelor's degree	37.5%	13.1%
Graduate or professional degree	29.2%	6.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
Drove alone	62.1%	45.3%
Carpooled	4.5%	9.7%
Public transit	3.2%	1.4%
Walked	0.5%	21.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	28.5%	20.0%
Other means	1.2%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
1-unit, detached	53.9%	36.7%
1-unit, attached	13.8%	12.4%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	22.3%
5 to 19 units	12.9%	18.9%
20 or more units	14.3%	9.3%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Buffalo Grove	North Chicago
Poverty rate	6.5%	21.9%
Average household size	2.65	2.66
Mean commute (minutes)	27	17
Median year structure built	1982	1972