ZIP 28704 vs ZIP 28759

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28704 (Arden, NC) and ZIP 28759 (Mills River, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28704 has a population of 18,821 at 220 people per square mile, while ZIP 28759 has 6,922 at 115 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 28704 reports a median household income of $81,096 against $107,609 in ZIP 28759, with per-capita income of $46,301 vs $47,088. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.7% in 28704 and 44.2% in 28759. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 3.0% — 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 $390,000 in 28704 versus $444,300 in 28759, with median rent of $1,400 and $1,551 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.3% vs 86.2%. 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.