ZIP 28480 vs ZIP 28411

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28480 (Wrightsville Beach, NC) and ZIP 28411 (Wilmington, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28480 has a population of 2,473 at 326 people per square mile, while ZIP 28411 has 31,962 at 295 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 28480 reports a median household income of $172,500 against $97,387 in ZIP 28411, with per-capita income of $103,755 vs $51,389. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 73.8% in 28480 and 52.1% in 28411. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 5.3% — 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 $1,131,800 in 28480 versus $396,400 in 28411, with median rent of $2,336 and $1,778 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.5% vs 80.5%. 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.