ZIP 28469 vs ZIP 28468

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28469 (Ocean Isle Beach, NC) and ZIP 28468 (Sunset Beach, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28469 has a population of 5,839 at 101 people per square mile, while ZIP 28468 has 4,375 at 96 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 28469 reports a median household income of $90,684 against $83,358 in ZIP 28468, with per-capita income of $50,043 vs $54,289. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.0% in 28469 and 40.6% in 28468. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 2.1% — 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 $463,200 in 28469 versus $412,000 in 28468, with median rent of $950 and $1,300 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.3% vs 87.4%. 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.