ZIP 28741 vs ZIP 28717

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28741 (Highlands, NC) and ZIP 28717 (Cashiers, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28741 has a population of 3,197 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 28717 has 1,729 at 13 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 28741 reports a median household income of $70,392 against $76,085 in ZIP 28717, with per-capita income of $77,146 vs $66,093. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.7% in 28741 and 43.7% in 28717. Poverty rate reads 7.9% vs 3.0%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 0.5% — 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 $631,000 in 28741 versus $440,000 in 28717, with median rent of $836 and $1,421 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 72.3%. 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.