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ZIP Code28681

Taylorsville, NC

Alexander County · North Carolina · United States
Home to 26,117 people across 167.635 square miles.

EasternOwner-majority3 ZIPs in county

At a glance

28681 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
26k
±1,041 · top 25% nationally
Median household income
$61,343
US median $70,109 · 35th pctile
Median home value
$188,000
US median $207,500 · 44th pctile
Median age
44.2
US median 42 years
Population density
156/mi²
60th pctile most dense
Land area
167.635 mi²
plus 2.567 mi² water

Location

Where 28681 is

35.922678, -81.223058 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates35.922678, -81.223058
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyAlexander County
StateNorth Carolina (NC)
Land area167.635 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, GA234.0 mi
Philadelphia, PA431.7 mi
New York, NY512.1 mi
Chicago, IL536.3 mi

People

Who lives in 28681

26,117 residents in 9,747 households, averaging 2.68 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 20.4% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1818.6%
18-248.8%
25-3412.1%
35-4411.5%
45-5414.1%
55-6414.6%
65+20.4%

Households

Composition and size

Total households9,747
Average household size2.68
Family households69.2%
Living alone25.6%
Median age44.2 years
Households with internet83.6%

Race & ethnicity

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

White88.6%
Black4.8%
Asian0.7%
Native American1.3%
Other2.1%
Two or more2.5%
Hispanic / Latino4.7%

Income & work

What people earn in 28681

The median household here earns $61,343 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 28681 ahead of 35% of American ZIP codes. 11.8% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$61,343
LowestHighest
Higher than 35% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$61,343 ±$4,424
Per capita income$30,190
Poverty rate11.8%
Unemployment rate5.2%
Labor force participation53.6%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k19.0%
$25-50k19.6%
$50-75k20.2%
$75-100k16.0%
$100-150k16.1%
$150-200k5.3%
$200k+3.8%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 15.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 83.2% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 28681

A typical home is valued at $188,000, and median rent runs $719 a month. This is an owner-majority area — 80.7% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1985.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$188,000
Median gross rent$719/mo
Median year built1985
Housing units11,524
Vacancy rate15.4%

Own vs. rent

Of 9,747 occupied units

Owner-occupied80.7%
Renter-occupied19.3%
Owner households7,866
Renter households1,881

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family71.6%
2-4 units1.8%
5-19 units1.5%
20+ units25.1%

Getting to work

How 28681 commutes

84.9% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 28.2 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone84.9%
Carpooled8.6%
Walked1.1%
Worked from home4.9%

Travel time

Mean commute 28.2 minutes

<10 min13.1%
10-1924.8%
20-2925.7%
30-4420.9%
45-596.3%
60+9.1%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 28681

ZIP code 28681 is assigned to Taylorsville, NC, and falls within Alexander 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 26,117 people live inside it.

At 156 residents per square mile spread over 167.635 square miles, 28681 reads as a rural 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 $61,343, 28681 sits in the lower half, ahead of 35% 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 Taylorsville looks like

Housing in 28681 costs close to the national median. A typical home is valued at $188,000 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $719 a month. Ownership dominates: 80.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, which usually signals an established residential area with relatively low turnover.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 71.6% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1985, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.

The population skews broadly in line with the national age profile, with a median age of 44.2 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.68 people, and 69.2% are family households.

Getting to work takes 28.2 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 84.9% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Taylorsville, NC

28681 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 $719 a month — and accommodation prices in the area tend to be correspondingly reasonable. For reference, Atlanta, GA is about 234.0 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 28681 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 28681 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, 28681 offers a compact profile of Taylorsville: 26,117 residents, a median household income of $61,343, 15.2% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 5.2%. 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. 28681 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Taylorsville 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 28681

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.

More in Alexander County

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Questions

Common questions about 28681

What city is ZIP code 28681 in?
28681 serves Taylorsville, North Carolina, in Alexander County, United States.
What is the population of 28681?
About 26,117 people live in ZIP code 28681, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±1,041. That works out to roughly 156 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 28681?
The median household income in 28681 is $61,343 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $30,190. 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 28681?
The median home value is $188,000 and median gross rent is $719 a month. 80.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 28681 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 15.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 5.2%, and the median age is 44.2. The average commute is 28.2 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 28681 in?
28681 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 28681?
ZIP code 28681 covers 167.635 square miles of land plus 2.567 square miles of water, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 28681 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 28681 reads as a rural area. It holds 156 people per square mile across 167.635 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 28681?
Median gross rent in 28681 is $719 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 9,747 occupied homes here, 1,881 are rented.
What is the commute like from 28681?
The average one-way commute from 28681 takes about 28.2 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 84.9% 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 28681?
About 11,146 residents of 28681 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 53.6% and the unemployment rate is 5.2%. 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 28681?
Accommodation in and around Taylorsville, 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 28681 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Taylorsville as the primary place and Alexander 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 28681 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 28681. 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 28681, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.