ZIP 27852 vs ZIP 27864

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27852 (Macclesfield, NC) and ZIP 27864 (Pinetops, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27852 has a population of 2,977 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 27864 has 4,779 at 46 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 27852 reports a median household income of $55,921 against $64,201 in ZIP 27864, with per-capita income of $33,558 vs $33,313. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.1% in 27852 and 17.7% in 27864. Poverty rate reads 14.2% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 10.4% — 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 $142,100 in 27852 versus $124,400 in 27864, with median rent of $886 and $908 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.2% vs 65.4%. 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.