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Chowan County · North Carolina

ZIP code 27980

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 27980 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
1,719

ZCTA residents

Median income
$73,316

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$194,600

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
4.75%

North Carolina state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 27980 sits in Chowan County, North Carolina and is home to 1,719 people. Median household income is $73,316, the median home is worth $194,600 and median gross rent is —. 82.1% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 4.75% (North Carolina state rate).

County
Chowan County

FIPS 37041

State
North Carolina (NC)

853 ZIPs covered

Area codes
Not published

No NANPA match for this ZIP

Metro area
Outside covered metros

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 27980

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
1,719ZIP 27980 residents
Median household income
$73,316Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$194,600Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
—Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
47.7 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
82.1%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 27980 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 27980 is a small town in Chowan County, North Carolina, with 1,719 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #625 of 853 ranked by population — larger than 26% of them. The median age here is 47.7 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 27980 earn a median of $73,316 a year, 6.6% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 7.2% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 27980 is valued at $194,600, 35.9% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs not published a month. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 82.1% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

The Census withheld gross rent for ZIP 27980 because the sample was too thin to publish at this geography. Those values were suppressed at the source, not lost in our dataset, and we do not model a replacement. Everything else on this page comes straight from the ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year tables.

Reading ZIP 27980 in context

How 27980 sits inside Chowan County and North Carolina.

ZIP 27980 is tabulated inside Chowan County, North Carolina, one of 2 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 853 across North Carolina. Fewer than 2,500 people are counted here, so the ZIP behaves like a village delivery route rather than a neighbourhood. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 27980 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 27980 reports a median household income of $73,316, 14% above the $64,139 county median, and 17% above the $62,646 typical NC ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $194,600, 3% below the county figure and 4% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at not published a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

North Carolina charges 4.75% statewide, and local governments overlapping 27980 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 27980 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.

Sales tax in 27980

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
4.75%State base rate only
Tax on $100
$5Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$48Before any exemptions

North Carolina levies 4.75% statewide, and counties, cities and special districts inside this ZIP can add their own local rate on top. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
—Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
2.7×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$1,010/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
7.2%Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 27980 compares

ZIP 27980 against the median ZIP in Chowan County and across North Carolina.

MeasureZIP 27980County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$73,316$64,139$62,646+17%
Median home value$194,600$200,650$203,100-4%
Median gross rent—$790$941—
Population1,7197,2525,300-68%

Medians are computed across the 2 ZIP areas in Chowan County and the 853 ZIP areas in North Carolina.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 853 North Carolina ZIP areas.

Income

richer than 70% of 766 state ZIPs

#228
Home value

above 47% of 763 state ZIPs

#408
Population

larger than 27% of 853 state ZIPs

#625

Comparable ZIP codes

North Carolina ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
28447Bladen County$73,273$194,300—
28429New Hanover County$73,259$231,900$870
27569Johnston County$73,507$194,000$967
27981Dare County$73,542$257,100$1,031
28315Moore County$73,079$279,700$1,131
27332Lee County$73,075$224,000$1,086

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Chowan County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Chowan County, North Carolina.

ZIP 27980 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 27980?
ZIP 27980 lies mostly in Chowan County, North Carolina. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 27980?
North Carolina charges 4.75% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 27980 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs — a month, and the median home is worth $194,600 — -4% against the typical North Carolina ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 27980, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.