
Mecklenburg County · North Carolina
ZIP code 28215
- Population
- 65,789
- Median income
- $66,065
- Median home
- $273,800
- Sales tax
- 7.25%
ZCTA residents
Household, past 12 months
Owner-occupied value
Combined state + local
Quick answer
ZIP 28215 sits in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and is home to 65,789 people. Median household income is $66,065, the median home is worth $273,800 and median gross rent is $1,349. 65.7% 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 28215
American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.
- Population
- 65,789ZIP 28215 residents
- Median household income
- $66,065Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $273,800Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $1,349Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 34.8 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 65.7%Owner-occupied households
ZIP 28215 in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
ZIP 28215 is a small city in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, with 65,789 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #8 of 853 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 34.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.
Households in ZIP 28215 earn a median of $66,065 a year, 15.9% 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 15.5% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 28215 is valued at $273,800, 9.8% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,349 a month, 4.1% below the national figure, or roughly $16,188 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 24.5% 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 4.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 65.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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 28215 in context
How 28215 sits inside Mecklenburg County and North Carolina.
ZIP 28215 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 28215 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.
Against its own county, 28215 reports a median household income of $66,065, 26% below the $89,207 county median, and 5% above the $62,646 typical NC ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $273,800, 33% below the county figure and 35% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,349 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.
A taxable purchase made inside 28215 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 28215 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 28215 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 28215
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 28215 compares
ZIP 28215 against the median ZIP in Mecklenburg County and across North Carolina.
| Measure | ZIP 28215 | County median | State median | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $66,065 | $89,207 | $62,646 | +5% |
| Median home value | $273,800 | $410,800 | $203,100 | +35% |
| Median gross rent | $1,349 | $1,587 | $941 | +43% |
| Population | 65,789 | 34,676 | 5,300 | +1141% |
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
- #335
- Home value
- #220
- Population
- #8
richer than 56% of 766 state ZIPs
above 71% of 763 state ZIPs
larger than 99% 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 28215 questions
Common questions about this ZIP code.
- Where is ZIP code 28215?
- ZIP 28215 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 28215?
- Purchases are taxed at 7.25% combined, built from the Charlotte jurisdiction stack.
- Is 28215 expensive to live in?
- Median rent runs $1,349 a month, about 25% of median household income, and the median home is worth $273,800 — +35% 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.