Cubs fans vs. Cleveland fans: more money, more kids, younger

With the World Series back in Cleveland for Game 6, the Sun-Times asked the consumer research company Nielsen-Scarborough to scour its data for some insights into who Cubs fans are — and how they differ from Cleveland Indians fans.

Among the highlights, Cubs fans tend to:

• Be slightly younger — with a median age of 48.7 years old vs. 51.3 years old for Cleveland fans.

• Be more likely to have kids at home — 38 percent vs. 26 percent.

• Make more money — with a median household income of $69,000 vs. $54,000.

Both teams have more female fans than most pro sports teams, which generally see a 60-40 male-female split, according to Nielsen-Scarborough. The male-female split among each team’s supporters is similar — with Cubs fans skewing 57 percent male-43 female and Indians fans 58 percent male-42 percent male, according to the data.

In terms of devotion, by one measure, the Indians top the Cubs: 57 percent of people in the Cleveland area have attended, watched or listened to their team’s games in the past 12 months vs. 49 percent of people in the Chicago area. Of course, Cleveland doesn’t have a second Major League team.

The information on Cubs fans was gleaned from surveys conducted from March 2015 through this past February among a random sampling of about 4,000 adults in the broad Chicago market — comprised of 7.5 million adults in 11 counties in Illinois and five counties in northwest Indiana.

More highlights regarding Cubs fans:

• About 46 percent make more than $75,000 a year in household income, versus 39 percent of the area’s population overall.

• About 59 percent said they had consumed a beer in the past 30 days, compared to 48 percent of the overall population.

• About 65 percent fans own a home — on par with others.

• About 25 percent have gym memberships — slightly more than the 23 percent of the population. Perhaps they need it: About 11 percent of Cubs fans are in a weight-loss program, a tad more than the average of 10 percent.

• About 62 percent have no kids — slightly above the area’s average of 61 percent.

• They barbecue more: 67 percent said they’d grilled within in the past year vs. 59 percent of the overall population.

• They also re-use shopping bags more often: 50 percent vs. 44 percent. The rate of recycling plastics, paper and metals leans slightly toward Cubs fans: 78 percent vs. 76 percent.

• They outpace the market when it comes to checking CNN online for news at least once a month: 16 percent vs. 12 percent. And they’re slightly ahead when it comes to clicking on Fox News: 15 percent vs. 13 percent.

• They are more likely to watch late-night talk shows — 20 percent vs. 16 percent.

• As far as looking for love, Cubs fans are no different from others, according to the data, with 5 percent of fans and non-fans alike saying they’d recently used Internet dating services or answered personal ads.