ZIP 28717 vs ZIP 28774

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28717 (Cashiers, NC) and ZIP 28774 (Sapphire, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28717 has a population of 1,729 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 28774 has 1,013 at 9 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 28717 reports a median household income of $76,085 against $154,635 in ZIP 28774, with per-capita income of $66,093 vs $83,680. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.7% in 28717 and 68.3% in 28774. Poverty rate reads 3.0% vs 3.2%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $440,000 in 28717 versus $797,900 in 28774, with median rent of $1,421 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.3% vs 88.6%. 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.