ZIP 28635 vs ZIP 28649

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28635 (Hays, NC) and ZIP 28649 (Mc Grady, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28635 has a population of 3,901 at 36 people per square mile, while ZIP 28649 has 993 at 11 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 28635 reports a median household income of $44,901 against $47,016 in ZIP 28649, with per-capita income of $30,238 vs $21,735. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.0% in 28635 and 17.6% in 28649. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 4.3% — 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 $145,900 in 28635 versus $122,100 in 28649, with median rent of $920 and $567 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.6% vs 72.0%. 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.