ZIP 28531 vs ZIP 28528

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28531 (Harkers Island, NC) and ZIP 28528 (Gloucester, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28531 has a population of 1,207 at 208 people per square mile, while ZIP 28528 has 644 at 86 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 28531 reports a median household income of $60,000 against $64,000 in ZIP 28528, with per-capita income of $36,684 vs $41,978. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.3% in 28531 and 26.3% in 28528. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 3.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 8.3% — 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 $313,100 in 28531 versus $353,800 in 28528, with median rent of $1,125 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.4% vs 96.0%. 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.