AreaProfile

28304Fayetteville, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28304.

50
Area Score
Bottom 9% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3807th of 4,073 published ZIP areas28
Growth3709th of 3,947 published ZIP areas19
Housing affordabilityTop 44% of 4,553 published ZIP areas80
ClimateTop 40% of 4,621 published ZIP areas73
Physical resilience2514th of 4,554 published ZIP areas52
Access4236th of 4,623 published ZIP areas67
Economic stability3258th of 4,591 published ZIP areas48
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places 28304 in the bottom 7%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 322 units authorized over the past twelve months, 69% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 50 places 28304 in the top 91% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
37,140
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,563
Bottom 27% nationally
Density
2,135/sq mi
17.4 sq mi of land
Median age
34.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Fayetteville
North Carolina
Metro area
Fayetteville, NC
Nearest major airport
RDU
60 mi · Raleigh-Durham Intl
Median home value
$172,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 37% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.7% over the past year, to 73,086 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,225$58,563Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,412$31,435Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.1%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.1 minBottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.0%Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment73,086Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.9%Bottom 4%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.7%Bottom 12%June 2026
Labor force76,752Top 34%June 2026
Labor force participation64.5%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,170Bottom 12%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,620Bottom 10%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 13%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 37%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202459k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,563 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 — Fayetteville, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons4,240$30,440
Cooks, Fast Food3,890$23,430
Registered Nurses3,430$83,060
Cashiers3,400$27,390
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,130$28,170
Stockers and Order Fillers3,060$35,000

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 Fayetteville, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,312 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,312
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$172,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.94Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate55.4%Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±46816,746Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$31$1,312Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,973$172,000Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.9%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.3%Bottom 43%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
19/ 100
Ranks 3709 of 3,947 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
322
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.5
Bottom 31% nationally
Year over year
−69%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FAYETTEVILLE RGNL AP, 6.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation44.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 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

52 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneElevated
LightningModerate
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, tornado, inland flooding, wildfire, hail, cold wave, strong wind, drought.

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 60 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU60 mi10,000 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO81 mi11,498 ft
Wilmington IntlILM81 mi8,016 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
50
Your Score

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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.

28304 vs Fayetteville

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

28304
Fayetteville
Median household income
$58,563
vs
$58,407
Per capita income
$31,435
vs
$32,728
Population density
2,135/sq mi
vs
1,422/sq mi
Median home value
$172,000
vs
$188,000
Median gross rent
$1,312
vs
$1,250
Homeownership rate
55.4%
vs
47.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
26.0%
vs
29.0%
Poverty rate
16.1%
vs
17.7%
Median age
34.6
vs
30.6

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.