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Cumberland County · North Carolina

ZIP code 28311

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 28311 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
35,927

ZCTA residents

Median income
$60,033

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$195,700

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
4.75%

North Carolina state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 28311 sits in Cumberland County, North Carolina and is home to 35,927 people. Median household income is $60,033, the median home is worth $195,700 and median gross rent is $1,122. 50.8% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 4.75% (North Carolina state rate).

County
Cumberland County

FIPS 37051

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 28311

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

Population
35,927ZIP 28311 residents
Median household income
$60,033Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$195,700Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
$1,122Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
31.9 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
50.8%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 28311 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 28311 is a small city in Cumberland County, North Carolina, with 35,927 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #97 of 853 ranked by population — larger than 88% of them. The median age here is 31.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. 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 28311 earn a median of $60,033 a year, 23.6% 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 19.2% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 28311 is valued at $195,700, 35.5% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,122 a month, 20.2% below the national figure, or roughly $13,464 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 22.4% 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 3.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 50.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. 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 28311 in context

How 28311 sits inside Cumberland County and North Carolina.

ZIP 28311 is tabulated inside Cumberland County, North Carolina, one of 17 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 28311 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 28311 reports a median household income of $60,033, 5% below the $63,384 county median, and 4% below the $62,646 typical NC ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $195,700, close to the county figure and 4% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,122 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 28311 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 28311 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 28311

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
22%Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
3.3×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$1,015/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
19.2%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 28311 compares

ZIP 28311 against the median ZIP in Cumberland County and across North Carolina.

MeasureZIP 28311County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$60,033$63,384$62,646-4%
Median home value$195,700$195,700$203,100-4%
Median gross rent$1,122$1,111$941+19%
Population35,92714,3525,300+578%

Medians are computed across the 17 ZIP areas in Cumberland 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 44% of 766 state ZIPs

#429
Home value

above 47% of 763 state ZIPs

#403
Population

larger than 89% of 853 state ZIPs

#97

Comparable ZIP codes

North Carolina ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
28314Cumberland County$60,036$172,000$1,197
28716Haywood County$60,008$223,600$961
28034Gaston County$59,969$221,000$841
27534Wayne County$59,950$187,700$1,106
28128Stanly County$59,941$179,700$828
28806Buncombe County$59,925$335,800$1,224

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Cumberland County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Cumberland County, North Carolina.

ZIP 28311 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 28311?
ZIP 28311 lies mostly in Cumberland 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 28311?
North Carolina charges 4.75% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 28311 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs $1,122 a month, about 22% of median household income, and the median home is worth $195,700 — -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 28311, 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.