ZIP 28634 vs ZIP 28660

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28634 (Harmony, NC) and ZIP 28660 (Olin, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28634 has a population of 5,225 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 28660 has 2,249 at 27 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 28634 reports a median household income of $60,426 against $77,278 in ZIP 28660, with per-capita income of $30,939 vs $28,163. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.0% in 28634 and 5.6% in 28660. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 20.2%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 4.7% — 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 $152,700 in 28634 versus $216,100 in 28660, with median rent of $982 and $1,073 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.3% vs 67.1%. 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.