ZIP 28655

28655 is one of 9 ZIP codes that lie mostly in Burke County, NC — 99% of its own area is in the county.

Shaded by typical home value, it ranks 1 of the 3 with a value.

19 school locations in 28655: 9 elementary, 4 middle, 6 high.

In alphabetical order: Burke Middle College, Burke Virtual Academy, Drexel Elementary, Forest Hill Elementary, and more on the ZIP page. Locations only — no ratings are shown here.

In August 2001 the typical home in 28655 was worth $71,332.

Values peaked at $261,408 in May 2026. The latest reading is −0.7% from that peak.

As of August 2026: $259,573, +1.7% over twelve months.

Start with the typical home: $259,573. Put 20% down and borrow $207,658 at 7.40%, the 30-year fixed average as of October 8, 2026.

That is $1,438 a month in principal and interest.

The median household here earns $53,464 a year, $4,455 a month. So the payment takes 32.3% of income — rated “stretched” (Lotvox ZIP bands: under 28% affordable · 28–36% stretched · 36%+ severe).

The line holds today's rate fixed and moves only the price: at that rate, the same share was 8.9% in 2001.

Take the typical home's price each month, borrow 80% at that month's actual 30-year average rate: in August 2001 (6.95%) the payment was $378.

In December 2020, with rates at 2.68%, it was $586.

By August 2026, at 6.67%, it was $1,335 — +128% since December 2020, while the home's value moved +43%.

Reported values rose +264% since August 2001.

General prices (CPI-U) rose +88% over the same span.

Divide one by the other: in August 2026 dollars, the 2001 home was worth $134,353. So the real change is +93%, not +264%.

28655: +117% since February 2016.

Burke County: +115% since February 2016.

North Carolina: +96% since February 2016 — 28655 ran ahead of it by 21 points.

Owning the typical home costs about $1,697 a month once taxes and insurance (estimated at 1.2% of price a year) are added. Renting runs about $1,475 a month.

Price divided by a year's rent: 14.7. Lotvox reads under 15 as favoring buying and 20 or more as favoring renting.

Picture the Listings Flow Ladder as a basin: new listings pour in from the faucet, the homes for sale are the water, and closed sales run out the drain. Coming in — new listings: about 70 a month (Redfin, 3-month rolling data through August 2026).

On the shelf — homes for sale at the end of the period: 247.

Going out — closed sales: about 45 a month. The drain is drawn 27% narrower: the share of homes for sale that sell each month is 73% of its 2015–2019 level.

The ladder: homes for sale ÷ monthly sales = 5.4 months of supply — inside the 4–6 month balanced range. In the basin, that is the water level against the shaded balanced band.

The net reading: about 25 more homes came on than sold each month, so inventory is growing. The basin is filling.

Homes sold: about 45 a month in August 2026 (Redfin).

The 2015–2019 level for the same month was 1 — so sales ran at 4,500% of it, and below it in 0 of the last 24 months.

Across Burke County, builders pulled permits for 588 new homes in 2025.

Of those, 81% were in 1-unit buildings (the Census Bureau's category for detached and attached single homes).

This ZIP sits in Burke County. IRS tax returns for 2022-2023: among the ten counties sending the most households, 1,172 moved in. Among the ten receiving the most, 1,073 moved out.

Net across those counties: +99 households. Beside it, homes for sale in this ZIP: 247 in June 2026.

Most arrivals came from Catawba, NC (403 households); most departures went to Catawba, NC (421).