Chimney Rock, NC
Rutherford County · North Carolina · United States
Home to 135 people across 9.279 square miles.
At a glance
28720 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 28720 is
| Coordinates | 35.447724, -82.262195 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/New_York |
| County | Rutherford County |
| State | North Carolina (NC) |
| Land area | 9.279 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 | 168.5 mi |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia, PA | 497.1 mi |
| Chicago, IL | 530.1 mi |
| New York, NY | 577.4 mi |
People
Who lives in 28720
135 residents in 70 households, averaging 1.93 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 28.1% of residents.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 70 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 1.93 |
| Family households | 62.9% |
| Living alone | 24.3% |
| Median age | 58.4 years |
| Households with internet | 100.0% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 28720
Income data is suppressed for this ZIP code.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | — ±— |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $56,259 |
| Poverty rate | 14.8% |
| Unemployment rate | 0.0% |
| Labor force participation | 61.9% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 28.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 99.2% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 28720
A typical home is valued at $361,100, and median rent runs $1,358 a month. This is an owner-majority area — 67.1% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1967.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | $361,100 |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | $1,358/mo |
| Median year built | 1967 |
| Housing units | 170 |
| Vacancy rate | 58.8% |
Own vs. rent
Of 70 occupied units
| Owner households | 47 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 23 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 28720 commutes
71.8% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 15.1 minutes.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 15.1 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 28720
ZIP code 28720 is assigned to Chimney Rock, NC, and falls within Rutherford 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 135 people live inside it.
At 15 residents per square mile spread over 9.279 square miles, 28720 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.
Living here
What life in Chimney Rock looks like
Housing in 28720 costs well above the national median. A typical home is valued at $361,100 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $1,358 a month. The split between owning and renting is fairly even at 67.1% 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 84.7% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1967, making the housing here mid-century. The vacancy rate of 58.8% is high, which in many places reflects seasonal or second-home use rather than abandonment.
The population skews considerably older than the national median, with a median age of 58.4 against 42 nationally. Households average just 1.93 people, and 24.3% consist of one person living alone — a signature of areas with a lot of studio and one-bedroom stock.
Getting to work takes 15.1 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 71.8% of workers, while 23.1% walk. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Chimney Rock, NC
28720 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.
Median rent in 28720 is $1,358 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 168.5 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.
Opens Booking.com in a new tab. We are not affiliated with Booking.com and receive nothing from this link.
Practical uses
What ZIP code 28720 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 28720 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, 28720 offers a compact profile of Chimney Rock: 135 residents, 28.6% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.0%. 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. 28720 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Chimney Rock 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 28720
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 Rutherford County
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Questions
Common questions about 28720
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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 28720. 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).