28544 — Piney Green, North Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 28544. Its median home value runs 38% below Piney Green as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,937th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured26
Schools1,764th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured44
GrowthTop 22% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured65
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured77
ClimateTop 17% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured80
Physical resilience2,997th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured10
Access2,704th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured72
Economic stability2,832nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured25
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places 28544 in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 alone.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.1 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 alone.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,868 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 33% on the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 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
4,386
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,354
Bottom 18% nationally
Density
413/sq mi
10.6 sq mi of land
Median age
26.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Piney Green
North Carolina
Nearest major airport
ILM
46 mi · Wilmington Intl
Median home value
$141,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, is 4.2%, lower than in 58% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, fell 3.4% over the past year, to 65,902 employed residents.

Median household income of $52,354 is lower than in 82% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsOnslow County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$53,50617th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftOnslow County, NC’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,26313th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$13,3942024 ACS 5-Year$52,354Bottom 18%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,7852024 ACS 5-Year$24,118Bottom 11%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year17.7%Bottom 22%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.8 minTop 34%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year15.7%Bottom 27%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year74.9%46th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentPiney Green, NC’s figureJuly 202665,902Top 40%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Piney Green, NC’s figureJuly 2026−5.5%Bottom 3%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Piney Green, NC’s figureJuly 2026−3.4%Bottom 5%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forcePiney Green, NC’s figureJuly 202668,80360th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±13%2024 ACS 5-Year73.8%Bottom 34%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageJacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,170Bottom 3%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageJacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$40,230Bottom 3%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Piney Green, NC’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 46%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment ratePiney Green, NC’s figureJuly 20264.2%Top 42%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±17%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%61st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202460k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,354 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 — Jacksonville, NC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,040$29,480
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,900$27,330
Cooks, Fast Food1,830$22,900
Cashiers1,630$26,380
Stockers and Order Fillers1,330$33,880
Waiters and Waitresses1,140$28,870

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 Piney Green, NC, the city containing this ZIP code.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 alone.

There are 16.1 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 alone.

Public schools
—
Students per teacher
16.1
Math proficiency
37.9%
Bottom 39% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
44.7%
Top 48% in North Carolina

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Piney Green, NC: too few schools in 28544 reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.

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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.8, 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 Jacksonville, NC Metro Area is up 58% over five years, and up 3.8% 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 $689 a year in real estate taxes.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,173, close to the $1,262 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,173 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,900 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $52,354.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,262 a month.

A median home at $141,700 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $75,351, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.8

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Jacksonville, 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
28.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,173
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,262
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$141,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 28544’s median household income of $52,354, 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 Jacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure202391.8Top 18%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%65th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+58.3%93rd percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+113.1%78th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±12024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 18%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±11%2024 ACS 5-Year34.6%4th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4002024 ACS 5-Year2,15959th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$935Top 22%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,631Top 32%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,173Top 24%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1262024 ACS 5-Year$1,262Bottom 32%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$32,7452024 ACS 5-Year$141,70024th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3952024 ACS 5-Year$6899th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$40,0702024 ACS 5-Year$75,351Bottom 39%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year28.1%Top 49%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±142024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%84th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2122024 ACS 5-Year33465th 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

65/ 100
Top 22% 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.

At 9.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Piney Green, NC, which contains 28544, rather than for 28544 alone.

Units permitted
1,868
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.0
Top 15% nationally
Year over year
+33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
23.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
77%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$53,506
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,263
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. San Diego County, CA 1,098 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  2. Pender County, NC 675 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  3. Carteret County, NC 472 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  4. Craven County, NC 459 people · 2.2% of arrivals
  5. New Hanover County, NC 457 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. San Diego County, CA 951 people · 4.7% of departures
  2. Pender County, NC 608 people · 3.0% of departures
  3. Craven County, NC 386 people · 1.9% of departures
  4. New Hanover County, NC 372 people · 1.8% of departures
  5. Carteret County, NC 351 people · 1.7% 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 Onslow 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 Piney Green, 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 89°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW RIVER MCAF, 5.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals56.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 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

10 / 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 79% 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
LightningModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

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

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
4.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
22.5
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 28544 (Onslow County) rather than 28544 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. Piney Green 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Wilmington Intl at 46 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±11%2024 ACS 5-Year88.7%Bottom 46%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle46 miBottom 16%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 9%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%Bottom 34%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wilmington IntlILM46 mi8,016 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO47 mi11,498 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR117 mi9,503 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
47
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—

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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
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.

28544 vs Piney Green

How this ZIP area compares with Piney Green 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.

28544
Piney Green
Median household income: Piney Green is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$52,354
vs
$72,177
Per capita income: Piney Green is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$24,118
vs
$32,641
Population density
413/sq mi
vs
1,033/sq mi
Median home value
$141,700
vs
$227,600
Median gross rent: Piney Green is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,262
vs
$1,202
Homeownership rate
34.6%
vs
66.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Piney Green is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
15.7%
vs
24.2%
Poverty rate: Piney Green is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
17.7%
vs
11.0%
Median age
26.6
vs
30.1

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.