ZIP 28701 vs ZIP 28804

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28701 (Alexander, NC) and ZIP 28804 (Asheville, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28701 has a population of 3,635 at 79 people per square mile, while ZIP 28804 has 20,507 at 298 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 28701 reports a median household income of $108,125 against $88,312 in ZIP 28804, with per-capita income of $39,819 vs $53,901. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.9% in 28701 and 60.0% in 28804. Poverty rate reads 4.8% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 4.9% — 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 $324,300 in 28701 versus $566,000 in 28804, with median rent of $1,128 and $1,492 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.5% vs 71.1%. 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.