ZIP 28516 vs ZIP 28589

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28516 (Beaufort, NC) and ZIP 28589 (Williston, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28516 has a population of 11,431 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 28589 has 180 at 6 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 28516 reports a median household income of $66,057 against — in ZIP 28589, with per-capita income of $45,301 vs $39,878. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.4% in 28516 and 0.0% in 28589. Poverty rate reads 11.8% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 3.5% 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 $315,400 in 28516 versus — in 28589, with median rent of $944 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.0% vs 100.0%. 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.