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ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan. The codes went live on July 1, 1963.The lowest ZIP code is 00501 — the IRS in Holtsville, New York.The highest ZIP code is 99950, in Ketchikan, Alaska.Type 07734 into a calculator and turn it upside down: hELLO. It is Keansburg, New Jersey.12345 belongs to one company: General Electric in Schenectady, New York.The first digit is a region: 0 is New England and New Jersey, 9 is the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii.Mr. ZIP, the cartoon mailman, was the mascot that sold the idea to America.ZIP+4 arrived in 1983 and can narrow a ZIP down to one side of one block.A ZIP code is a mail route, not a place: plenty of them cross county and even state lines.Play ZIP Hunt: guess the secret ZIP code of the day in six tries.
zipcodes.pro — ZIP/28601

28601

ZIP 28601 is in Hickory, North Carolina, mostly in Catawba County; area code 828; Eastern time. Hickory has 3 ZIP codes; the others are 28602 and 28603.

Type
Standard
Time zone
America/New_York
County
Catawba +3 more
Population
53,329
Coordinates
35.7724, -81.3267
☼ Live from 28601 — Hickory, NC

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Local time: —

Where 28601 is

Approximate ZIP boundary (Census ZCTA 2020). ZIP codes are mail routes, not areas, so the shape shown is the Census tabulation area that approximates it.

★ Weird and wonderful facts about 28601
  • 🔢 Type 28601 into a pocket calculator and turn it upside down: IOgBZ — not quite a word, sorry.
  • ➕ As a number, 28,601 = 37 × 773. Its digits add up to 17, a total 2,133 other ZIP codes share.
  • 💾In binary, the way a computer stores it: 110111110111001
  • 🏠 Its numerical neighbours: 28594 (Emerald Isle, NC, 257 mi away) and 28602 (Hickory, NC, 8 mi away).
  • 🔄 Backwards, 28601 becomes 10682, which is not a ZIP code at all.
  • 👥 52 other ZIP codes are made of exactly the same digits (01826, 01862, 02186, 02816, 02861, 06128, …). The farthest-flung twin is 86021 in Colorado City, AZ, 1,764 miles away.
  • 🧭 Farther south than 70% of all ZIP codes, and farther east than 69%.
  • 🎯981 miles east of the geographic center of the Lower 48, near Lebanon, Kansas.
  • 🌏 Dig straight through the Earth from 28601 and you would come out at 35.77°S, 98.67°E — 1,019 miles from Perth, Australia, the nearest big city to that spot.
  • ☀Longest day of the year: 14h 35m of daylight. Shortest: 9h 44m.
  • 📏 At 47.1 square miles of land, 28601 is bigger than 58% of ZIP codes — room for about 36 Central Parks.
🌙 The sky over 28601 today
  • Working out the sun…
🌋 Shake report
  • Checking the USGS…

Source: USGS.

People and housing

Population53,329This ZIP53,329
Households21,727This ZIP21,727
Housing units23,838This ZIP23,838
Median age41.2This ZIP41.2North Carolina39.1US 38.9
Median household income$67,817This ZIP$67,817North Carolina$72,388US $80,734
Median home value$261,600This ZIP$261,600North Carolina$288,900US $332,700
Median gross rent$1,029This ZIP$1,029North Carolina$1,228US $1,413
Bachelor's degree or higher36.1%This ZIP36.1%
Mean commute22.4 minThis ZIP22.4 min
Population density1,133.1 / sq miThis ZIP1,133.1 / sq mi

Business and tax activity

Business establishments1,368This ZIP1,368
Employees24,272This ZIP24,272
Annual payroll$1,247,412,000This ZIP$1,247,412,000
Tax returns filed24,860This ZIP24,860
Total adjusted gross income$2,145,509,000This ZIP$2,145,509,000

Land area

Land area47.06 sq miThis ZIP47.06 sq mi
Water area3.42 sq miThis ZIP3.42 sq mi

Counties 28601 spans

A ZIP code is a mail route and ignores county lines. Shares are by overlapping land area.

CountyShare of this ZIP
Catawba County 64.0%
Burke County 15.5%
Alexander County 12.9%
Caldwell County 7.5%

Other place names in 28601

Census places whose land this ZIP code overlaps. The Postal Service may accept other city names in an address, too.

ZIP codes near 28601

ZIPCityDistance
28667 Rhodhiss, NC 5.5 mi
28637 Hildebran, NC 6.4 mi
28630 Granite Falls, NC 6.7 mi
28603 Hickory, NC 6.8 mi
28613 Conover, NC 7.1 mi
28602 Hickory, NC 7.5 mi
28666 Icard, NC 8.9 mi
28638 Hudson, NC 9.9 mi
28610 Claremont, NC 10.6 mi
28658 Newton, NC 10.6 mi

Find every ZIP code within 10 miles of 28601 →

Questions about this ZIP code

Where is ZIP code 28601?

28601 is in Hickory, North Carolina, in Catawba County, part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metropolitan area. Its published point location is 35.7724, -81.3267.

What county is 28601 in?

28601 spans 4 counties: Catawba County, Burke County, Alexander County and Caldwell County. Most of it falls in Catawba County, measured by overlapping land area — the county holding the most land in a ZIP code is not always the one holding the most residents.

What area code is 28601?

Hickory uses area code 828, from NANPA's telephone records.

What time zone is 28601 in?

28601 uses America/New_York.

How many people live in 28601?

About 53,329 people live in ZIP code 28601, in 21,727 households, at 1,133.1 people per square mile. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area, not a headcount.

What is the median household income in 28601?

$67,817 a year, against $72,388 across North Carolina.

What ZIP codes are near 28601?

The closest are 28667 (5.5 mi), 28637 (6.4 mi), 28630 (6.7 mi), 28603 (6.8 mi) and 28613 (7.1 mi).

Is 28601 a PO Box ZIP code?

28601 is a standard ZIP code. A normal ZIP code with street delivery.

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Cite this page

zipcodes.pro. “28601 ZIP Code — Hickory, North Carolina (Catawba County).” Data release 2026-10-12. Retrieved 2026-10-20. https://zipcodes.pro/zip/28601

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