28451 — Leland, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28451. Its median home value runs 12% below Leland as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

58out of 100
Area Score
Top 50% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 27% of 3,116 ZIP areas measured65
Schools1,680th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured46
GrowthTop 5% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured78
Housing affordability2,518th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured50
ClimateTop 9% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured83
Physical resilience2,682nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured21
AccessTop 37% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured95
Economic stability1,566th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured54
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $81,481, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Leland, NC, which contains 28451, rather than for 28451 alone.

In the public schools here, 40% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.0 students for every teacher.

908 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 5% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Leland, NC, which contains 28451, rather than for 28451 alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
46,933
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$81,481
Top 36% nationally
Density
273/sq mi
172.2 sq mi of land
Median age
44.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Leland
North Carolina
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ILM
13 mi · Wilmington Intl
Median home value
$351,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Leland, NC, which contains 28451, is 3.6%, lower than in 78% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Leland, NC, which contains 28451, fell 2.2% over the past year, to 15,507 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBrunswick County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$103,48189th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBrunswick County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$71,40056th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,3532024 ACS 5-Year$81,481Top 36%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,7182024 ACS 5-Year$44,021Top 29%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Top 42%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.7 minTop 50%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.0%Top 25%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.5%52nd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentLeland, NC’s figureJuly 202615,507Bottom 11%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Leland, NC’s figureJuly 2026+7.1%Top 2%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Leland, NC’s figureJuly 2026−2.2%Bottom 16%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceLeland, NC’s figureJuly 202616,09311th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.4%Top 49%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$58,480Bottom 16%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageWilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$45,800Bottom 13%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Leland, NC’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateLeland, NC’s figureJuly 20263.6%Top 22%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.9%69th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202481k67k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $81,481 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 — Wilmington, NC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons6,310$30,790
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,100$27,460
Registered Nurses5,040$80,970
Waiters and Waitresses4,920$30,610
Cashiers4,860$28,520
Cooks, Fast Food3,880$27,500

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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 Leland, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.0 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
40.0%
Bottom 46% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
46.2%
Top 41% in North Carolina
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North Brunswick HighBrunswick County Schools1,62018.243%51%
Classical Charter Schools of Leland · charterClassical Charter Schools of Leland93524.048%63%
Belville ElementaryBrunswick County Schools81215.345%41%
Leland MiddleBrunswick County Schools80617.928%41%
Lincoln ElementaryBrunswick County Schools73815.731%26%

99.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 95.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Wilmington, NC Metro Area is up 60% over five years, and up 3.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,962 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.56% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,426, below the $1,612 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,426 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $57,000 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $81,481.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,612 a month.

A median home at $351,500 costs 4.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $88,626, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
95.4

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Wilmington, NC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
36.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,426
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,612
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$351,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 28451’s median household income of $81,481, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure202395.4Top 38%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.7%63rd percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+59.7%95th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+134.0%96th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.0Bottom 19%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.0%59th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6842024 ACS 5-Year21,81198th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,301Bottom 48%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,983Top 50%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,426Top 45%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$912024 ACS 5-Year$1,612Bottom 18%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,6272024 ACS 5-Year$351,50074th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$942024 ACS 5-Year$1,96250th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,0552024 ACS 5-Year$88,626Top 42%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.56%18th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year36.4%Bottom 15%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1962024 ACS 5-Year19985th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%48th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%46th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3612024 ACS 5-Year1,58994th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

78/ 100
Top 5% of 3,124 published ZIP 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: of 908 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Leland, NC, which contains 28451, rather than for 28451 alone.

At 30.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Leland, NC, which contains 28451, rather than for 28451 alone.

Units permitted
908
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
30.7
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+5.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
54%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$103,481
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$71,400
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. New Hanover County, NC 2,149 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Wake County, NC 615 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  3. Horry County, SC 356 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  4. Mecklenburg County, NC 345 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  5. Columbus County, NC 220 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. New Hanover County, NC 1,201 people · 17% of departures
  2. Horry County, SC 416 people · 5.7% of departures
  3. Columbus County, NC 323 people · 4.5% of departures
  4. Wake County, NC 285 people · 3.9% of departures
  5. Pender County, NC 197 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Brunswick County, NC. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

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

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.1 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WILMINGTON INTL AP, 12.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND8.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals60.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 72% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneHigh
WildfireModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, inland flooding, tornado, heat wave, ice storm, strong wind, cold wave, landslide, drought, hail, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

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.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
6.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 28451 (Brunswick County) rather than 28451 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Leland carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Wilmington Intl at 13 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year94.4%Top 23%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle13 miTop 35%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%Top 29%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wilmington IntlILM13 mi8,016 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR60 mi9,503 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO81 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
58
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

28451 vs Leland

How this ZIP area compares with Leland as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

28451
Leland
Median household income: Leland is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$81,481
vs
$91,977
Per capita income: Leland is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$44,021
vs
$50,729
Population density
273/sq mi
vs
1,042/sq mi
Median home value
$351,500
vs
$398,900
Median gross rent: 28451 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,612
vs
$1,735
Homeownership rate
82.0%
vs
80.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Leland is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
36.0%
vs
43.7%
Poverty rate: Leland is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
8.8%
vs
5.2%
Median age
44.4
vs
47.3

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.