ZIP 28669 vs ZIP 28670

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28669 (Roaring River, NC) and ZIP 28670 (Ronda, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28669 has a population of 3,146 at 26 people per square mile, while ZIP 28670 has 2,719 at 28 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 28669 reports a median household income of $47,358 against $49,567 in ZIP 28670, with per-capita income of $26,745 vs $27,545. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.2% in 28669 and 14.2% in 28670. Poverty rate reads 26.9% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 1.6% — 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 $137,500 in 28669 versus $155,800 in 28670, with median rent of $746 and $753 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.3% vs 68.3%. 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.