ZIP 28423 vs ZIP 28450

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28423 (Bolton, NC) and ZIP 28450 (Lake Waccamaw, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28423 has a population of 2,290 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 28450 has 2,438 at 24 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 28423 reports a median household income of $52,250 against $69,554 in ZIP 28450, with per-capita income of $24,736 vs $41,856. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.6% in 28423 and 29.0% in 28450. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 4.0% — 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 $134,100 in 28423 versus $264,200 in 28450, with median rent of $893 and $817 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.8% vs 73.2%. 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.