Raleigh, a 2026 city reportUnited States , population 1.45 million metro , index 7.6 of 10

Raleigh in 200 words.

Raleigh scored 7.6 on the everycity index in 2026. The headline numbers: rent on a 1 bedroom in the central districts (Glenwood South, Five Points, Cameron Village, North Hills) runs 1,485 USD a month, the monthly all in cost lands at 2,420 USD for a single resident, the income tax position runs to a top combined rate of 41.5 percent including the 4.50 percent flat North Carolina state income tax, and the safety score is 8.0 on the same 10 point scale we apply to Austin, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

Raleigh runs 18 percent below Charlotte, 23 percent below Austin, and 28 percent above the North Carolina state median on the May 2026 basis. The full numbers run by category through this report. If you want the comparison view first, start with Austin vs Houston or Austin vs Miami, then return here for the deep read.

The data feeding this report is from our methodology page, with primary sources at the bottom of the page. Numbers are May 2026 unless stated otherwise. Currency is the US dollar, with all figures USD.

One reading note. This is the long form report. If you only want the headline numbers, the city score generator returns the index figure with custom weights in 30 seconds. If you want the country level read, the United States page places Raleigh on the national table. If you want the regional view, North America sets the continent context.

A 10 point read on streets, day and night.

Raleigh scored 8.0 overall. The breakdown matters more than the headline, and the safety profile here runs above the comparable US Sunbelt cities.

Compared with the rest of the index, Raleigh sits in the upper tier of US cities of comparable size on the safety axis. The 2024 to 2025 trend lines on major felony crime ran modestly downward (down 4 percent year over year per the Raleigh Police Department 2025 annual report). The safest cities ranking places Tokyo at 9.6 and Singapore at 9.5 as the top of the global table; Raleigh ranks above Austin, Atlanta, and Charlotte on the same axis for cities of comparable size in the US South.

Practical notes for new residents: the central retail and downtown districts are well covered by Raleigh Police Department patrol; the residential safety record varies by neighborhood (the Hayes Barton, Five Points, Cameron Village, and North Raleigh corridors have the lowest reported crime rate; the southeast Raleigh corridor and the parts of downtown adjacent to Moore Square run higher on petty theft and overnight property crime). Carry an international policy from SafetyWing for the first six months while your local healthcare enrollment processes. The full safety methodology is on our methodology page.

The four categories that make up the overall safety score are: violent crime, property crime, traffic safety, and emergency response time. Raleigh is strongest on traffic safety (the city sits in the top quartile of US cities on per capita pedestrian and cyclist fatalities) and weakest on overnight downtown property crime in the entertainment districts. For the comparison view against other Southeast cities, the Austin vs Miami and Austin vs Houston pages set the regional context.

Who pays, and how much the tax takes back.

Salary medians are May 2026, sourced from Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Tax figures are from the official revenue authority.

The major employers in Raleigh are: SAS Institute (the largest private software company in the world by revenue not yet public, headquartered in Cary, 14,000 staff), Cisco RTP (the largest Cisco campus outside San Jose at 12,000 employees), IBM RTP, Lenovo Americas headquarters in Morrisville, Red Hat (now part of IBM, headquartered downtown Raleigh in the Red Hat Tower), MetLife North Carolina hub, Fidelity Investments RTP, NetApp, Citrix (now part of Cloud Software Group), Pendo, the major biotech and pharma campuses (Eli Lilly Research Triangle, Biogen, GSK), Duke University Health System, UNC Health, WakeMed Health, Rex Healthcare, the State of North Carolina government (Raleigh is the state capital), the North Carolina State University, and the Wake County Public School System. The full take home math is sensitive to deductions and statutory contributions; the tax calculator tool runs the numbers on a real offer. For benchmarking against other cities, the highest paying cities ranking sets the comparison view.

Note on tax: North Carolina levies a 4.50 percent flat state income tax (reduced from 5.25 percent in 2022 and scheduled to drop to 3.99 percent for 2026 under the 2023 budget law that locked in a phased rate reduction; the most recent November 2025 budget review confirmed the schedule). The state sales tax sits at 4.75 percent plus the Wake County local sales tax of 2.50 percent. Property tax in Wake County runs 0.86 percent of assessed value annually (the Raleigh city portion is 0.353 percent plus the Wake County portion of 0.512 percent for the combined rate). Run your number against your actual income, not the headline. For deeper career reading see the best cities for tech workers 2026 and the best cities for finance professionals.

Career mobility for the relocated worker is shaped by the visa pathway. The routes available are the standard US employment visas (the H1B, L1A, L1B, O1, E2 for treaty country investors), plus the EB5 investor green card and the relatively rare EB1 extraordinary ability route. The cities for tech jobs ranking tracks the pattern across the cities in this issue.

Where to actually live.

Eight neighborhoods, each with the rent number and a one line verdict.

The neighborhood scores feed our neighborhood matcher tool, which takes your lifestyle inputs and returns the right area within Raleigh on a 1 to 10 fit. For comparable neighborhood guides in other US cities, see London neighborhoods, Tokyo neighborhoods, and the Raleigh neighborhoods deep dive available through the journal.

For long term rentals beyond the first month, residents use Apartments.com, Zillow, the local Bull City Rental Group, and the Raleigh subreddit r/raleigh for the share market. The application process is competitive at the central downtown buildings but more relaxed at the outer ring: most rentals require a credit check (most landlords want 660 plus), proof of income at three times the monthly rent, two prior landlord references, and the security deposit of one month rent.

Two neighborhood rules of thumb the data supports. First, the second ring out from the central downtown is almost always the best value: cheap enough to feel like a discount, central enough to feel central. Second, the neighborhood directly adjacent to the most expensive one (Mordecai to Oakwood, Five Points to Glenwood South) tends to gentrify next.

Schools, if you have kids.

The international school option, the local school option, and the cost of each.

Raleigh hosts 11 international and high fee independent schools across the metropolitan area. The major names include Cary Academy, Ravenscroft School, Saint Mary's School, Saint David's School, the Raleigh Charter High School, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (selective public, statewide admission), and the Triangle Day School. Tuition at the major independent schools runs 24,000 to 32,000 USD a year per child plus enrollment fees and the building levy. The Wake County Public School System is the largest school district in North Carolina at 161,000 students across 198 schools and operates a controlled choice assignment that pools students across the county rather than strict neighborhood catchment; the assignment lottery opens in October for the following academic year.

The family rating for Raleigh weights school quality, park access, safety, healthcare, and the cost of a three bedroom flat. See the best cities for families ranking for the full table. The Wake County public school admissions calendar runs through the controlled choice lottery; the independent school cycle opens in October with most decisions issued by February.

Beyond school, the family experience in Raleigh is shaped by what is free. Public parks, public libraries, the museums on the central Mall (the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, the North Carolina Museum of History, the Marbles Kids Museum, the City of Raleigh Museum, the Pope House Museum), the Pullen Park amusement park with the historic Dentzel carousel, the Lake Johnson Park with the 5 mile loop trail. Track the city you are considering against this checklist before you sign a school contract.

For the working couple, on site daycare runs 1,150 to 1,750 USD a month for full time at the licensed daycares. The Raleigh childcare wait list runs four to nine months for the popular central centers, somewhat shorter than the equivalent Austin or Charlotte wait.

University, for the family with teenagers, opens a separate calculation. The major institutions in the metropolitan area include North Carolina State University (the flagship public research university at 37,000 students), Duke University 25 miles west in Durham, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 30 miles west, Meredith College, Shaw University, William Peace University, Saint Augustine's University. Tuition for domestic students at NC State runs 9,100 to 10,300 USD a year for in state residents; the private universities (Duke at 67,000 USD a year, UNC at 9,000 USD a year for in state) run a wide tuition band.

What makes Raleigh itself.

The food signatures, the nightlife rating, the cultural calendar.

Food in Raleigh: the North Carolina barbecue tradition (the eastern North Carolina vinegar based whole hog at Sam Jones BBQ and Lawrence Barbecue, the Lexington style at the Pit Barbecue downtown), the chef driven dining at Crawford and Son, Stanbury, Death and Taxes, Mandolin, Garland (the major Cheetie Kumar Indian fusion that anchored the Raleigh fine dining scene through the 2010s and 2020s), the dense Vietnamese pho corridor on Capital Boulevard, the Mexican taqueria culture along Western Boulevard and South Saunders Street, the breakfast biscuit and country ham tradition at Big Ed's City Market and Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. The nightlife scores 7.0 on the 10 point scale; the methodology weights bar density, late hour transport, and the diversity of the scene. The Raleigh nightlife concentrates on Glenwood South, the Warehouse District, the Fayetteville Street pedestrian corridor, and the Cameron Village adjacent corridors. The best cities for nightlife ranking places this in context.

Cultural temperament is its own variable. Raleigh hosts the North Carolina State Fair (October, the largest agricultural fair in the southeast at 1 million attendees), Hopscotch Music Festival (September), the IBMA World of Bluegrass (the bluegrass capital convention, four day September weekend), the Brewgaloo craft beer festival downtown (May), the Cary Theatre and Lincoln Theatre concert series, the North Carolina Symphony at Meymandi Concert Hall, the Carolina Hurricanes home games at the Lenovo Center, the North Carolina Courage soccer at WakeMed Soccer Park. Tour bookings run cleanest through GetYourGuide.

Two underrated reads on cultural fit: how late the city eats, and how quietly the political temperature runs against the rest of the state. Raleigh eats at 17:30 to 21:00, kitchens close by 22:00 on most weeknights with the Glenwood South corridor running until 02:00 on weekends. The state political temperature contrasts the Raleigh and Triangle area (consistently among the most progressive metropolitan areas in the South) against the broader North Carolina state politics; the Wake County voting record has shifted left through the 2020s and the Raleigh resident orientation runs notably national rather than southern regional. For language and integration with the major Latino, Vietnamese, and Indian communities, Babbel remains useful for the Spanish learner.