ZIP 28412 vs ZIP 28409

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28412 (Wilmington, NC) and ZIP 28409 (Wilmington, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28412 has a population of 35,573 at 632 people per square mile, while ZIP 28409 has 31,296 at 507 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 28412 reports a median household income of $71,636 against $111,048 in ZIP 28409, with per-capita income of $46,647 vs $57,885. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.4% in 28412 and 50.9% in 28409. Poverty rate reads 11.2% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 2.7% — 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 $371,900 in 28412 versus $422,600 in 28409, with median rent of $1,411 and $1,405 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.4% vs 84.4%. 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.