ZIP 28472 vs ZIP 28424

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28472 (Whiteville, NC) and ZIP 28424 (Brunswick, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28472 has a population of 19,658 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 28424 has 128 at 333 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 28472 reports a median household income of $42,003 against $48,875 in ZIP 28424, with per-capita income of $27,405 vs $31,156. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 28472 and 0.0% in 28424. Poverty rate reads 18.7% vs 25.6%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 0.0% — 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 $151,000 in 28472 versus $77,300 in 28424, with median rent of $845 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.3% vs 32.7%. 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.