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ZIP Code28649

Mc Grady, NC

Wilkes County · North Carolina · United States
Home to 1,581 people across 35.492 square miles.

Eastern14 ZIPs in county

At a glance

28649 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.

Population
1,581
±421 · 41th pctile nationally
Median household income
$43,391
US median $70,109 · bottom 10%
Median home value
$121,900
US median $207,500 · bottom 25%
Median age
49.2
US median 42 years
Population density
45/mi²
40th pctile most dense
Land area
35.492 mi²
negligible water area

Location

Where 28649 is

36.335979, -81.212043 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates36.335979, -81.212043
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyWilkes County
StateNorth Carolina (NC)
Land area35.492 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus 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, GA253.4 mi
Philadelphia, PA412.6 mi
New York, NY492.8 mi
Chicago, IL514.5 mi

People

Who lives in 28649

1,581 residents in 506 households, averaging 3.12 people per household. The largest age group is 55-64 at 25.2% of residents, and 96.2% of households are families.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1821.3%
18-242.0%
25-343.0%
35-4422.2%
45-549.6%
55-6425.2%
65+16.7%

Households

Composition and size

Total households506
Average household size3.12
Family households96.2%
Living alone3.8%
Median age49.2 years
Households with internet95.5%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White100.0%

Income & work

What people earn in 28649

The median household here earns $43,391 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 28649 ahead of 9% of American ZIP codes. 21.7% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$43,391
LowestHighest
Higher than 9% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$43,391 ±$10,490
Per capita income$18,933
Poverty rate21.7%
Unemployment rate2.5%
Labor force participation61.9%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k22.3%
$25-50k42.3%
$50-75k8.3%
$75-100k24.7%
$100-150k2.4%
$150-200k0.0%
$200k+0.0%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 12.3% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 75.6% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 28649

A typical home is valued at $121,900, and median rent runs $648 a month. Ownership is close to even at 59.3% owned, and the typical building went up in 1986.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$121,900
Median gross rent$648/mo
Median year built1986
Housing units617
Vacancy rate18.0%

Own vs. rent

Of 506 occupied units

Owner-occupied59.3%
Renter-occupied40.7%
Owner households300
Renter households206

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family45.1%
5-19 units1.6%
20+ units53.3%

Getting to work

How 28649 commutes

63.5% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 39.1 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone63.5%
Carpooled36.5%

Travel time

Mean commute 39.1 minutes

<10 min13.9%
10-1912.5%
20-2917.5%
30-4419.1%
45-594.5%
60+32.5%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 28649

ZIP code 28649 is assigned to Mc Grady, NC, and falls within Wilkes 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 1,581 people live inside it.

At 45 residents per square mile spread over 35.492 square miles, 28649 reads as a rural area. It is a sparsely populated 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 are well below the national median. At $43,391, 28649 ranks among the lower-income postal codes, ahead of 9% 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 Mc Grady looks like

Housing in 28649 costs below the national median. A typical home is valued at $121,900 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $648 a month. The split between owning and renting is fairly even at 59.3% owner-occupied, which tends to indicate a mix of housing types rather than one dominant form.

The building stock is dominated by larger apartment buildings of twenty units or more, which account for 53.3% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1986, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 49.2 against 42 nationally. Households are relatively large at 3.12 people on average, with 96.2% classified as family households.

Getting to work takes 39.1 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 63.5% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Mc Grady, NC

28649 covers a rural area, and accommodation within the postal code itself is likely to be sparse — perhaps a country inn, a lodge or a vacation rental rather than a conventional hotel. Widening the search radius is usually the practical approach, and it also opens up more availability at short notice.

Local costs are modest — median rent here is $648 a month — and accommodation prices in the area tend to be correspondingly reasonable. For reference, Atlanta, GA is about 253.4 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.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 28649 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 28649 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, 28649 offers a compact profile of Mc Grady: 1,581 residents, a median household income of $43,391, 12.3% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 2.5%. 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. 28649 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Mc Grady 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.

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Questions

Common questions about 28649

What city is ZIP code 28649 in?
28649 serves Mc Grady, North Carolina, in Wilkes County, United States.
What is the population of 28649?
About 1,581 people live in ZIP code 28649, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±421. That works out to roughly 45 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 28649?
The median household income in 28649 is $43,391 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $18,933. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
How expensive is housing in 28649?
The median home value is $121,900 and median gross rent is $648 a month. 59.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 28649 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 12.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 2.5%, and the median age is 49.2. The average commute is 39.1 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 28649 in?
28649 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 28649?
ZIP code 28649 covers 35.492 square miles of land, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 28649 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 28649 reads as a rural area. It holds 45 people per square mile across 35.492 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
How much is rent in 28649?
Median gross rent in 28649 is $648 a month, according to the American Community Survey. Gross rent includes contract rent plus the estimated cost of utilities and fuels, so it is closer to what a tenant actually pays than a headline rent figure. Of 506 occupied homes here, 206 are rented.
What is the commute like from 28649?
The average one-way commute from 28649 takes about 39.1 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 63.5% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 28649?
About 752 residents of 28649 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 61.9% and the unemployment rate is 2.5%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 28649?
Accommodation in and around Mc Grady, NC ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 28649 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Mc Grady as the primary place and Wilkes County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 28649 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

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 28649. 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).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 28649, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.