ZIP 28587 vs ZIP 28515

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28587 (Vandemere, NC) and ZIP 28515 (Bayboro, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28587 has a population of 369 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 28515 has 2,915 at 21 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 28587 reports a median household income of $35,833 against $31,715 in ZIP 28515, with per-capita income of $25,942 vs $20,949. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.8% in 28587 and 10.3% in 28515. Poverty rate reads 29.2% vs 19.4%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 2.6% — 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 $108,100 in 28587 versus $157,700 in 28515, with median rent of — and $591 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.5% vs 71.1%. 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.