ZIP 27946 vs ZIP 27979

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27946 (Hobbsville, NC) and ZIP 27979 (Sunbury, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27946 has a population of 1,207 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 27979 has 1,719 at 9 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 27946 reports a median household income of $74,421 against $63,170 in ZIP 27979, with per-capita income of $43,412 vs $32,493. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.9% in 27946 and 13.9% in 27979. Poverty rate reads 9.9% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.2% — 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 $204,400 in 27946 versus $192,300 in 27979, with median rent of $1,537 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.5% vs 89.5%. 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.