Boston, MA vs Darien, IL

Side-by-side comparison of housing, income, commute, safety, and quality of life.

Score Snapshot

No universal winner

Scores summarize the published model. Use the objective metric differences below and your own priorities to choose.

Boston

66.2

#1568 nationally

Darien

75.1

#500 nationally

Boston leads in walk score (83 vs 35). Darien leads in median household income ($110,546 vs $81,744). Darien leads in cost of living index (122 vs 155).

Metric-by-Metric Breakdown

Metric	Boston, MA	Darien, IL
WhereAtHome Score	66.2 (#1568)	75.1 (#500)
Population	684,379	21,698
Typical Home Value (ZHVI)	$787,763	$463,450
Median Household Income	$81,744	$110,546
Average Commute	30.2 min	29.7 min
Walk Score	83	35
Crime Level	Moderate	1.1
School Rating	7.2	N/A
Cost of Living Index	155	122
Political lean County 2024 presidential margin — context only, not scored	D+52.5	D+13.3