Best Places28805, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 28805, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
28805 ranks 8,808th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 28805
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
28805's strengths and weaknesses
Where 28805 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 28805 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 31% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 37% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 28805
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 28805 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,138, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 28805's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 28805
28805 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 28805.
Who works in 28805, and how
Work in 28805 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 28805
28805 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 28805 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 28805, month by month
28805 sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 28805
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around 28805
Schools across 28805 average a B, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Evergreen Community CharterA · 67% proficient
- Claxton ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Haw Creek ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Asheville MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Reynolds MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Owen MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- School Of Inquiry And Life SciencesA− · 67% proficient
- Middle CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 28805 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
28805 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 28805 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 28805
Is 28805 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 28805 ranks 8,808th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 28805 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $461,475. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $81,138 median income, cost of living beats 58% of zip codes.
Is 28805 safe?
28805 is safer than 25% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $512 per resident a year.
Compare 28805 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 28805. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 28805 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
28805 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 28805: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 28805: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 28805: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 28805: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
28805 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.