ZIP 27017 vs ZIP 28676

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27017 (Dobson, NC) and ZIP 28676 (State Road, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27017 has a population of 9,597 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 28676 has 3,483 at 47 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 27017 reports a median household income of $59,329 against $60,833 in ZIP 28676, with per-capita income of $33,546 vs $42,617. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.3% in 27017 and 30.5% in 28676. Poverty rate reads 17.6% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 2.6% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $152,800 in 27017 versus $242,600 in 28676, with median rent of $704 and $690 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.8% vs 80.4%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.