ZIP 28902 vs ZIP 28909

This side-by-side compares ZIP 28902 (Brasstown, NC) and ZIP 28909 (Warne, NC) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 28902 has a population of 1,373 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 28909 has 1,030 at 40 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 28902 reports a median household income of $88,456 against $80,875 in ZIP 28909, with per-capita income of $42,826 vs $25,235. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.2% in 28902 and 21.0% in 28909. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 11.6%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 6.6% — 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 $252,700 in 28902 versus $285,400 in 28909, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.4% vs 93.1%. 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.