AreaProfile

28054Gastonia, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28054.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2226th of 4,073 published ZIP areas53
Housing affordability2318th of 4,553 published ZIP areas75
ClimateTop 41% of 4,621 published ZIP areas72
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 4,554 published ZIP areas66
AccessTop 26% of 4,623 published ZIP areas98
Economic stability3009th of 4,591 published ZIP areas52
The quick read

A major airport is 12 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
41,707
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,035
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
2,157/sq mi
19.3 sq mi of land
Median age
36.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Gastonia
North Carolina
Metro area
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
Nearest major airport
CLT
12 mi · Charlotte/Douglas Intl
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 78% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 39,063 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,219$61,035Bottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,307$33,995Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.3%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.6 minTop 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher22.0%Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment39,063Bottom 42%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.2%Bottom 31%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 42%June 2026
Labor force40,586Bottom 41%June 2026
Labor force participation64.0%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$68,900Top 44%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,990Bottom 47%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 24%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202461k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,035 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 — Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand40,540$38,850
Retail Salespersons35,150$33,580
Cashiers27,350$29,610
Fast Food and Counter Workers27,050$28,880
Registered Nurses27,010$90,620
Customer Service Representatives26,120$44,980

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 Gastonia, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,215 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
23.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,215
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$245,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.02Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate46.8%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±60418,564Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$1,215Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,716$245,100Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.9%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.4%Bottom 30%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 →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.3 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GASTONIA MUNI AP, 4.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°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

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, earthquake and ice storm.

Ice stormElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, inland flooding, hail, heat wave, winter weather, wildfire, 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 12 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT12 mi10,000 ft
Donaldson FldGYH78 mi8,000 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL79 mi8,002 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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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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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.

28054 vs Gastonia

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

28054
Gastonia
Median household income
$61,035
vs
$64,059
Per capita income
$33,995
vs
$35,174
Population density
2,157/sq mi
vs
1,542/sq mi
Median home value
$245,100
vs
$277,600
Median gross rent
$1,215
vs
$1,204
Homeownership rate
46.8%
vs
54.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
22.0%
vs
26.6%
Poverty rate
15.3%
vs
16.3%
Median age
36.2
vs
36.5

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.