ZIP 28676 vs ZIP 28621

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28676 (State Road, NC) and ZIP 28621 (Elkin, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28676 has a population of 3,483 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 28621 has 10,472 at 58 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 28676 reports a median household income of $60,833 against $53,616 in ZIP 28621, with per-capita income of $42,617 vs $31,190. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.5% in 28676 and 20.3% in 28621. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 21.0%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 4.8% — 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 $242,600 in 28676 versus $159,000 in 28621, with median rent of $690 and $783 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 68.7%. 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.