ZIP 28501 vs ZIP 28526

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28501 (Kinston, NC) and ZIP 28526 (Dover, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28501 has a population of 20,389 at 74 people per square mile, while ZIP 28526 has 2,489 at 11 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 28501 reports a median household income of $35,118 against $39,110 in ZIP 28526, with per-capita income of $28,872 vs $30,816. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.3% in 28501 and 20.9% in 28526. Poverty rate reads 29.4% vs 17.4%, and unemployment 11.6% vs 1.0% — 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 $79,000 in 28501 versus $124,200 in 28526, with median rent of $799 and $920 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.4% vs 82.8%. 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.