ZIP 28782 vs ZIP 28722

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28782 (Tryon, NC) and ZIP 28722 (Columbus, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28782 has a population of 6,584 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 28722 has 6,371 at 54 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 28782 reports a median household income of $72,946 against $67,760 in ZIP 28722, with per-capita income of $52,080 vs $40,814. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.4% in 28782 and 36.7% in 28722. Poverty rate reads 13.9% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 2.2% — 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 $345,200 in 28782 versus $307,300 in 28722, with median rent of $1,296 and $1,863 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.5% vs 69.4%. 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.