ZIP 27978 vs ZIP 27953

This side-by-side compares ZIP 27978 (Stumpy Point, NC) and ZIP 27953 (Manns Harbor, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 27978 has a population of 225 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 27953 has 1,021 at 1 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 27978 reports a median household income of $60,192 against $53,250 in ZIP 27953, with per-capita income of $32,077 vs $30,311. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 27978 and 21.8% in 27953. Poverty rate reads 8.0% vs 23.2%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 9.1% — 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 $336,400 in 27978 versus $254,700 in 27953, with median rent of — and $1,248 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.4% vs 74.3%. 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.