Charlotte, NC
Mecklenburg County · North Carolina · United States
Home to 38,948 people across 20.236 square miles.
At a glance
28208 by the numbers
Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.
Location
Where 28208 is
| Coordinates | 35.232005, -80.904989 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/New_York |
| County | Mecklenburg County |
| State | North Carolina (NC) |
| Land area | 20.236 mi² |
| Coordinate source | Census ZCTA internal point |
Local time
America/New_York
Current weather
Live from the National Weather Service
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Distance to major cities
Straight-line, computed from coordinates
| Atlanta, GA | 223.2 mi |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia, PA | 452.7 mi |
| New York, NY | 533.1 mi |
| Chicago, IL | 585.2 mi |
People
Who lives in 28208
38,948 residents in 16,057 households, averaging 2.43 people per household. The largest age group is under 18 at 23.5% of residents, and 43.6% of households are a single person living alone.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 16,057 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 2.43 |
| Family households | 49.1% |
| Living alone | 43.6% |
| Median age | 33.6 years |
| Households with internet | 79.1% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 28208
The median household here earns $51,339 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 28208 ahead of 18% of American ZIP codes. 20.1% of residents live below the poverty line.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | $51,339 ±$2,480 |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $33,353 |
| Poverty rate | 20.1% |
| Unemployment rate | 8.4% |
| Labor force participation | 65.6% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 25.8% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 81.4% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 28208
A typical home is valued at $198,300, and median rent runs $1,173 a month. This is a renter-majority area — 60.3% of occupied homes are rented, and the typical building went up in 1970.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | $198,300 |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | $1,173/mo |
| Median year built | 1970 |
| Housing units | 17,842 |
| Vacancy rate | 10.0% |
Own vs. rent
Of 16,057 occupied units
| Owner households | 6,381 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 9,676 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 28208 commutes
66.7% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 26.0 minutes. 15.6% work from home.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 26.0 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 28208
ZIP code 28208 is assigned to Charlotte, NC, and falls within Mecklenburg County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 38,948 people live inside it.
At 1,925 residents per square mile spread over 20.236 square miles, 28208 reads as a suburban area. It is a populous postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.
Household earnings run below the national median. At $51,339, 28208 sits in the lower half, ahead of 18% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.
Living here
What life in Charlotte looks like
Housing in 28208 costs close to the national median. A typical home is valued at $198,300 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $1,173 a month. The split between owning and renting is fairly even at 39.7% owner-occupied, which tends to indicate a mix of housing types rather than one dominant form.
The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 65.2% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1970, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.
The population skews younger than the country as a whole, with a median age of 33.6 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.43 people, and 49.1% are family households.
Getting to work takes 26.0 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 66.7% of workers, while 15.6% work from home. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Charlotte, NC
Charlotte is largely suburban in character. Accommodation here skews toward mid-range chain hotels and extended-stay properties positioned near highway junctions and business parks, which suits anyone driving in or visiting for work rather than sightseeing.
Median rent in 28208 is $1,173 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, Atlanta, GA is about 223.2 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.
Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.
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Practical uses
What ZIP code 28208 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 28208 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.
For anyone weighing a move, 28208 offers a compact profile of Charlotte: 38,948 residents, a median household income of $51,339, 25.8% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 8.4%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.
One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 28208 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Charlotte may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.
Nearby
ZIP codes near 28208
The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every North Carolina ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.
Other ZIP codes in Charlotte
Charlotte is served by 74 postal codes.
More in Mecklenburg County
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Questions
Common questions about 28208
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Methodology
Where this data comes from
- Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
- Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 28208. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
- Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
- Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
- Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).