ZIP 28429 vs ZIP 28405

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28429 (Castle Hayne, NC) and ZIP 28405 (Wilmington, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28429 has a population of 8,026 at 79 people per square mile, while ZIP 28405 has 29,152 at 468 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 28429 reports a median household income of $72,337 against $70,274 in ZIP 28405, with per-capita income of $33,470 vs $49,013. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.5% in 28429 and 41.0% in 28405. Poverty rate reads 17.9% vs 13.8%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 5.9% — 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 $239,200 in 28429 versus $368,500 in 28405, with median rent of $1,095 and $1,440 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.1% vs 57.6%. 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.