ZIP 28713 vs ZIP 28719

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28713 (Bryson City, NC) and ZIP 28719 (Cherokee, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28713 has a population of 8,686 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 28719 has 8,048 at 23 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 28713 reports a median household income of $50,882 against $60,658 in ZIP 28719, with per-capita income of $34,646 vs $27,051. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 28713 and 17.7% in 28719. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 17.7%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 9.5% — 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 $221,900 in 28713 versus $188,400 in 28719, with median rent of $732 and $892 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.3% vs 73.5%. 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.