ZIP 28117 vs ZIP 28682

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28117 (Mooresville, NC) and ZIP 28682 (Terrell, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28117 has a population of 35,454 at 343 people per square mile, while ZIP 28682 has 1,129 at 134 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 28117 reports a median household income of $112,976 against $129,390 in ZIP 28682, with per-capita income of $69,344 vs $78,557. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.4% in 28117 and 37.6% in 28682. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 3.2% — 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 $615,200 in 28117 versus $436,600 in 28682, with median rent of $1,698 and $1,458 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.9% vs 88.2%. 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.