ZIP 28016 vs ZIP 28033

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28016 (Bessemer City, NC) and ZIP 28033 (Crouse, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28016 has a population of 13,463 at 121 people per square mile, while ZIP 28033 has 2,749 at 68 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 28016 reports a median household income of $57,147 against $78,458 in ZIP 28033, with per-capita income of $28,485 vs $34,417. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 28016 and 10.6% in 28033. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 5.9% — 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 $222,700 in 28016 versus $224,000 in 28033, with median rent of $939 and $922 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 90.2%. 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.