ZIP 28649 vs ZIP 28635

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