Burnham, Illinois

Burnham is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,046 at the 2020 census. The ZIP code is 60633.

Burnham has a Chicago ZIP code, and is often mistakenly considered part of Chicago. It is, however, an independent municipality lying just south of the Chicago city limits.

Burnham was named for Telford Burnham who drew its plat; not, as is widely assumed, by Chicago city planner and architect Daniel Burnham.

There are two sections of Burnham. The westernmost section surrounds Torrence Avenue, a north–south street. Torrence Avenue leaves this part of Burnham via a bridge, with Chicago on the other side. The eastern section surrounds Burnham Avenue, another north–south street. This section of Burnham ends at Brainard Avenue, where the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago lies on the other side. Upon entering Chicago, Burnham Avenue becomes Avenue O.

Geography
Burnham is located at 41.63556°N, -87.55139°W (41.635535, -87.551284).

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Burnham has a total area of 1.94 sqmi, of which 1.86 sqmi (or 95.62%) is land and 0.09 sqmi (or 4.38%) is water. The water section of Burnham includes part of Powderhorn Lake and its adjacent nature preserve, a unit of the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

Surrounding areas
Burnham is bordered by Chicago to the north, Calumet City to the south and west, and Hammond, Indiana, to the east.
 * Chicago
 * Chicago Up arrow left.svg Up-1.svg Up arrow right.svg Hammond, Indiana
 * Calumet City Left.svg Right.svg Hammond, Indiana
 * Calumet City Down arrow left.svg Down arrow.svg Down arrow right.svg Hammond, Indiana
 * Calumet City

Demographics
As of the 2020 census there were 4,046 people, 1,607 households, and 821 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,085.57 PD/sqmi. There were 1,589 housing units at an average density of 819.07 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the village was 60.43% African American, 16.58% White, 0.59% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 12.75% from other races, and 9.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25.58% of the population.

There were 1,607 households, out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 22.78% were married couples living together, 23.15% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.91% were non-families. 46.36% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.82% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.56 and the average family size was 2.40.

The village's age distribution consisted of 23.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $46,382, and the median income for a family was $46,890. Males had a median income of $54,931 versus $27,141 for females. The per capita income for the village was $24,430. About 15.3% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.8% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Burnham is in Illinois's 2nd congressional district.

Transportation
Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Burnham to destinations across the Southland.

Notable people

 * Mary Matalin, political consultant and author