ZIP 28582 vs ZIP 28584

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28582 (Stella, NC) and ZIP 28584 (Swansboro, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28582 has a population of 1,588 at 38 people per square mile, while ZIP 28584 has 11,396 at 75 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 28582 reports a median household income of $89,348 against $87,414 in ZIP 28584, with per-capita income of $47,513 vs $47,843. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.7% in 28582 and 33.4% in 28584. Poverty rate reads 2.7% vs 9.7%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 4.6% — 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 $354,900 in 28582 versus $339,200 in 28584, with median rent of $1,106 and $1,274 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 80.1%. 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.