ZIP 28584 vs ZIP 28582

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