ZIP 28785 vs ZIP 28721

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28785 (Waynesville, NC) and ZIP 28721 (Clyde, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28785 has a population of 7,338 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 28721 has 10,063 at 35 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 28785 reports a median household income of $61,769 against $62,279 in ZIP 28721, with per-capita income of $35,911 vs $36,479. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.6% in 28785 and 27.5% in 28721. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 10.8%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.2% — 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 $310,300 in 28785 versus $281,800 in 28721, with median rent of $1,105 and $1,186 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 75.0%. 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.