ZIP 28428 vs ZIP 28449

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28428 (Carolina Beach, NC) and ZIP 28449 (Kure Beach, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28428 has a population of 6,033 at 453 people per square mile, while ZIP 28449 has 1,692 at 164 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 28428 reports a median household income of $93,241 against $107,563 in ZIP 28449, with per-capita income of $65,291 vs $64,660. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.3% in 28428 and 53.9% in 28449. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 3.2%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 2.2% — 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 $572,700 in 28428 versus $759,700 in 28449, with median rent of $1,505 and $1,420 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 80.0%. 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.