ZIP 28739 vs ZIP 28766

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28739 (Hendersonville, NC) and ZIP 28766 (Penrose, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28739 has a population of 19,786 at 114 people per square mile, while ZIP 28766 has 1,262 at 84 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 28739 reports a median household income of $73,582 against $57,708 in ZIP 28766, with per-capita income of $46,617 vs $28,931. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.1% in 28739 and 20.4% in 28766. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 13.3%, and unemployment 2.8% 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 $394,900 in 28739 versus $307,000 in 28766, with median rent of $1,127 and $1,217 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.3% vs 83.9%. 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.