AreaProfile

27705Durham, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 27705.

68
Area Score
Top 24% of 695 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 31% of 727 published ZIP areas64
GrowthTop 8% of 701 published ZIP areas73
Housing affordability594th of 800 published ZIP areas54
ClimateTop 22% of 779 published ZIP areas78
Physical resilienceTop 37% of 800 published ZIP areas65
Access550th of 779 published ZIP areas94
Economic stability636th of 800 published ZIP areas43
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 4,643 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 33% on the prior year.

A major airport is 15 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 68 places 27705 in the top 24% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
49,923
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,066
Top 48% nationally
Density
1,187/sq mi
42.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Durham
North Carolina
Metro area
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Nearest major airport
RDU
15 mi · Raleigh-Durham Intl
Median home value
$455,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2% is lower than 97% of the 1,061 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 160,787 employed residents.

64% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$6,602$73,066Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,415$53,574Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.6%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.8 minBottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher63.9%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment160,787Bottom 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.1%Bottom 33%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 26%June 2026
Labor force166,121Bottom 36%June 2026
Labor force participation61.5%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$79,700Top 11%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$60,720Top 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 36%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.2%Bottom 3%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202473k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,066 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Software Developers9,790$135,620
Retail Salespersons5,850$31,790
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants5,820$46,860
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,350$29,170
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,250$37,750
Cashiers4,840$29,920

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Durham, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,539 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.2 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
25.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,539
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$455,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.23Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate44.5%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±94925,051Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$68$1,539Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,999$455,000Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.3%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.5%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
73/ 100
Top 8% of 701 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

At 16.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
4,643
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
16.1
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
53.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Durham, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 46.7 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DURHAM 11 W, 7.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation46.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and lightning.

Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, tornado, winter weather, hail, strong wind, ice storm, earthquake, landslide, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 15 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU15 mi10,000 ft
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO54 mi10,001 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO91 mi11,498 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
68
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

27705 vs Durham

How this ZIP area compares with Durham as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

27705
Durham
Median household income
$73,066
vs
$81,619
Per capita income
$53,574
vs
$49,636
Population density
1,187/sq mi
vs
2,453/sq mi
Median home value
$455,000
vs
$392,800
Median gross rent
$1,539
vs
$1,508
Homeownership rate
44.5%
vs
52.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher
63.9%
vs
57.3%
Poverty rate
16.6%
vs
11.7%
Median age
35.3
vs
35.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.