ZIP 28439 vs ZIP 28430

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28439 (Fair Bluff, NC) and ZIP 28430 (Cerro Gordo, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28439 has a population of 1,595 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 28430 has 1,900 at 18 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 28439 reports a median household income of $32,361 against $68,356 in ZIP 28430, with per-capita income of $25,408 vs $34,036. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.8% in 28439 and 10.6% in 28430. Poverty rate reads 31.4% vs 13.0%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 3.1% — 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 $112,700 in 28439 versus $180,600 in 28430, with median rent of $756 and $638 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.4% vs 61.6%. 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.