ZIP 28526 vs ZIP 28501

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