
Mecklenburg County · North Carolina
ZIP code 28205
- Population
- 51,297
- Median income
- $72,479
- Median home
- $410,800
- Sales tax
- 7.25%
ZCTA residents
Household, past 12 months
Owner-occupied value
Combined state + local
Quick answer
ZIP 28205 sits in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and is home to 51,297 people. Median household income is $72,479, the median home is worth $410,800 and median gross rent is $1,376. 41.8% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 7.25% combined.
- County
- Mecklenburg County
- State
- North Carolina (NC)
- Area codes
- 704, 803, 980
FIPS 37119
853 ZIPs covered
NANPA codes serving this area
The numbers for 28205
American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.
- Population
- 51,297ZIP 28205 residents
- Median household income
- $72,479Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $410,800Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $1,376Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 34 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 41.8%Owner-occupied households
ZIP 28205 in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
ZIP 28205 is a small city in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, with 51,297 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #31 of 853 ranked by population — larger than 96% of them. The median age here is 34 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.
Households in ZIP 28205 earn a median of $72,479 a year, 7.7% below the national figure of $78,538. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 16.4% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 28205 is valued at $410,800, 35.4% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,376 a month, 2.1% below the national figure, or roughly $16,512 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 22.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 5.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 41.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.
Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Reading ZIP 28205 in context
How 28205 sits inside Mecklenburg County and North Carolina.
ZIP 28205 is tabulated inside Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, one of 34 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 853 across North Carolina. This is a dense urban ZIP, where a single postal boundary can hold more residents than an entire rural county. 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 28205 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.
Against its own county, 28205 reports a median household income of $72,479, 19% below the $89,207 county median, and 16% above the $62,646 typical NC ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $410,800, close to the county figure and 102% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,376 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.
A taxable purchase made inside 28205 carries 7.25% at the register, assembled from the Charlotte jurisdiction stack: the North Carolina state rate plus every county, municipal and special district levy that reaches this address. Because those district boundaries were drawn for schools, transit and hospital funding rather than for mail delivery, two addresses inside 28205 can legitimately fall under different totals — the rate shown here is the one that applies to the dominant jurisdiction.
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 28205 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 28205
What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.
This ZIP falls inside the Charlotte rate area, so state, county, city and district levies are published here as a full stack.
Affordability in this ZIP
Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.
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 28205 compares
ZIP 28205 against the median ZIP in Mecklenburg County and across North Carolina.
| Measure | ZIP 28205 | County median | State median | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $72,479 | $89,207 | $62,646 | +16% |
| Median home value | $410,800 | $410,800 | $203,100 | +102% |
| Median gross rent | $1,376 | $1,587 | $941 | +46% |
| Population | 51,297 | 34,676 | 5,300 | +868% |
Medians are computed across the 34 ZIP areas in Mecklenburg County and the 853 ZIP areas in North Carolina.
Statewide rank
Where this ZIP places among all 853 North Carolina ZIP areas.
- Income
- #240
- Home value
- #77
- Population
- #31
richer than 69% of 766 state ZIPs
above 90% of 763 state ZIPs
larger than 96% of 853 state ZIPs
Comparable ZIP codes
North Carolina ZIP areas with almost the same household income.
Nearby ZIP codes
Other ZIP codes filed under Mecklenburg County.
Adjacent ZIP Codes
Other ZIP codes in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
ZIP 28205 questions
Common questions about this ZIP code.
- Where is ZIP code 28205?
- ZIP 28205 lies mostly in Mecklenburg 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 28205?
- Purchases are taxed at 7.25% combined, built from the Charlotte jurisdiction stack.
- Is 28205 expensive to live in?
- Median rent runs $1,376 a month, about 23% of median household income, and the median home is worth $410,800 — +102% 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.
Keep going
Related pages for this area.
Sources & transparency
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates — 2019-2023 ACS 5-year — population, income, housing
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file — County assignment by largest land-area overlap
- North Carolina Department of Revenue — Sales tax rates and local add-ons
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.