ZIP 28080 vs ZIP 28006

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28080 (Iron Station, NC) and ZIP 28006 (Alexis, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28080 has a population of 7,299 at 71 people per square mile, while ZIP 28006 has 1,130 at 81 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 28080 reports a median household income of $71,997 against $51,932 in ZIP 28006, with per-capita income of $34,895 vs $25,862. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.7% in 28080 and 19.4% in 28006. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 5.6%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 3.8% — 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 $268,500 in 28080 versus $234,600 in 28006, with median rent of $1,147 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.1% vs 92.4%. 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.