ZIP 28104 vs ZIP 28105

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28104 (Matthews, NC) and ZIP 28105 (Matthews, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28104 has a population of 28,040 at 370 people per square mile, while ZIP 28105 has 39,586 at 642 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 28104 reports a median household income of $138,017 against $108,190 in ZIP 28105, with per-capita income of $64,298 vs $49,896. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 58.9% in 28104 and 53.5% in 28105. Poverty rate reads 4.6% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 2.9% — 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 $533,500 in 28104 versus $430,800 in 28105, with median rent of $1,801 and $1,765 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.6% vs 67.6%. 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.