ZIP 28708 vs ZIP 28747

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28708 (Balsam Grove, NC) and ZIP 28747 (Lake Toxaway, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28708 has a population of 754 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 28747 has 2,198 at 16 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 28708 reports a median household income of $70,435 against $66,000 in ZIP 28747, with per-capita income of $29,174 vs $38,737. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.4% in 28708 and 27.9% in 28747. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 15.8%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 7.1% — 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 $242,900 in 28708 versus $294,600 in 28747, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.1% vs 94.2%. 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.