ZIP 28054 vs ZIP 28098

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28054 (Gastonia, NC) and ZIP 28098 (Lowell, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28054 has a population of 36,270 at 700 people per square mile, while ZIP 28098 has 3,579 at 406 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 28054 reports a median household income of $61,035 against $53,000 in ZIP 28098, with per-capita income of $33,995 vs $39,270. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 28054 and 23.2% in 28098. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 17.4%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 1.9% — 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 $245,100 in 28054 versus $201,500 in 28098, with median rent of $1,215 and $1,603 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.8% vs 75.6%. 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.