ZIP 28771 vs ZIP 28702

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28771 (Robbinsville, NC) and ZIP 28702 (Almond, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28771 has a population of 8,558 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 28702 has 366 at 7 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 28771 reports a median household income of $49,407 against $37,275 in ZIP 28702, with per-capita income of $30,730 vs $23,805. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.2% in 28771 and 18.6% in 28702. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 6.3% vs 19.9% — 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 $168,800 in 28771 versus $332,300 in 28702, with median rent of $654 and $906 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.0% vs 63.3%. 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.