ZIP 28438 vs ZIP 28369

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28438 (Evergreen, NC) and ZIP 28369 (Orrum, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28438 has a population of 1,845 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 28369 has 2,652 at 14 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 28438 reports a median household income of $59,199 against $40,000 in ZIP 28369, with per-capita income of $24,631 vs $24,628. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.6% in 28438 and 10.2% in 28369. Poverty rate reads 13.9% vs 31.7%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.8% — 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 $160,800 in 28438 versus $77,800 in 28369, with median rent of $704 and $839 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.3% vs 73.7%. 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.