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Carteret County · North Carolina

ZIP code 28528

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 28528 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
607

ZCTA residents

Median income
$71,292

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$247,300

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
4.75%

North Carolina state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 28528 sits in Carteret County, North Carolina and is home to 607 people. Median household income is $71,292, the median home is worth $247,300 and median gross rent is —. 86% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 4.75% (North Carolina state rate).

County
Carteret County

FIPS 37031

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 28528

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

Population
607ZIP 28528 residents
Median household income
$71,292Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$247,300Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
—Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
50.8 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
86%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 28528 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 28528 is a very small community in Carteret County, North Carolina, with 607 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #724 of 853 ranked by population — larger than 15% of them. The median age here is 50.8 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 28528 earn a median of $71,292 a year, 9.2% 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 2% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 28528 is valued at $247,300, 18.5% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs not published a month. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.5×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 86% 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. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

A median age of 50.8 puts ZIP 28528 well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages. With 607 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 28528 against its county rather than against national figures.

The Census withheld gross rent for ZIP 28528 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 28528 in context

How 28528 sits inside Carteret County and North Carolina.

ZIP 28528 is tabulated inside Carteret County, North Carolina, one of 17 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 28528 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 28528 reports a median household income of $71,292, close to the $71,292 county median, and 14% above the $62,646 typical NC ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $247,300, 8% below the county figure and 22% above 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 28528 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 28528 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 28528

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
3.5×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$1,283/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
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 28528 compares

ZIP 28528 against the median ZIP in Carteret County and across North Carolina.

MeasureZIP 28528County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$71,292$71,292$62,646+14%
Median home value$247,300$269,800$203,100+22%
Median gross rent—$1,025$941—
Population6076275,300-89%

Medians are computed across the 17 ZIP areas in Carteret 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 67% of 766 state ZIPs

#249
Home value

above 65% of 763 state ZIPs

#270
Population

larger than 15% of 853 state ZIPs

#724

Comparable ZIP codes

North Carolina ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
28555Onslow County$71,250$147,000$950
27501Harnett County$71,217$251,100$1,008
28626Ashe County$71,186$301,300$1,266
27705Durham County$71,153$398,500$1,422
27233Randolph County$71,446$215,800$830
28174Union County$71,115$212,400$1,069

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Carteret County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Carteret County, North Carolina.

ZIP 28528 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 28528?
ZIP 28528 lies mostly in Carteret 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 28528?
North Carolina charges 4.75% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 28528 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs — a month, and the median home is worth $247,300 — +22% 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 28528, 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.