Best PlacesWake County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wake County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wake County ranks 19th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $116,711, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, childcare costs, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Wake County
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.
The best areas in Wake County
The parts of Wake County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Cary
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Morrisville
Health outcomes score higher, though tree cover is thinner.
Apex, Holly Springs & Fuquay-Varina
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Raleigh
Health care is easier to reach.
Wake Forest
Scores close to Raleigh, except that commutes are longer here.
Garner & Willow Spring
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Knightdale & Wendell
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Wake County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Wake County's strengths and weaknesses
Wake County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Population health and an educated workforce follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, childcare costs, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Wake County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$116,711 median, better than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
Where Wake County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,201 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Short commute25.1 minutes each way, better than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wake County
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $116,711; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Wake County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Wake County
Wake County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wake County.
Who works in Wake County, and how
Work in Wake County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wake County
Wake County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wake County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wake County growing, and who is moving in?
Wake County has grown about 24% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chapel Hill, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wake County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wake County, month by month
Wake County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Wake County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wake County
Schools across Wake County average an A−, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Quest AcademyA+ · 93% proficient
- White Oak ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Endeavor Charter SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mills Park MiddleA+ · 89% proficient
- Magellan CharterA+ · 88% proficient
- Davis Drive MiddleA+ · 87% proficient
Top high schools
- Raleigh Charter High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Wake Stem Early College High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Green Level HighA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wake County 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 Wake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wake County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wake County
Is Wake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wake County ranks 19th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and an educated workforce, and lowest on the weather and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $488,996. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $116,711 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Wake County safe?
Yes, Wake County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wake County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wake County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cary, Morrisville, and Apex, Holly Springs & Fuquay-Varina. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Wake County good for families?
Schools beat 94% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,201 a month.
Is Wake County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 29% of workers already work from home.
Compare Wake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wake County 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.
Wake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wake County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.