ZIP 28461 vs ZIP 28465

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28461 (Southport, NC) and ZIP 28465 (Oak Island, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28461 has a population of 16,126 at 82 people per square mile, while ZIP 28465 has 6,531 at 238 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 28461 reports a median household income of $82,692 against $86,194 in ZIP 28465, with per-capita income of $53,976 vs $66,508. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.2% in 28461 and 45.3% in 28465. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 1.4% — 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 $428,600 in 28461 versus $479,500 in 28465, with median rent of $1,352 and $1,289 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.2% vs 91.1%. 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.