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Where am ILOCATED

Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area

The Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area is made up of 3 counties in North Carolina: Wake, Johnston, and Franklin, largest first. About 1,595,720 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 12.9% more than in April 2020.

Franklin County, centralJohnston County, outlyingWake County, centralRaleighCary
Central Outlying 3 counties in North Carolina
Population, July 2025
1,595,720 12.9% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
3: 2 central, 1 outlying
Land area
2,119 sq mi (5,487 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
North Carolina
Combined statistical area
Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC
CBSA code
39580
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Wake CountyCentral1,257,23578.8%
Johnston CountyOutlying256,44816.1%
Franklin CountyCentral82,0375.1%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal cities, largest first

  1. Raleigh481,031 people
  2. Cary179,306 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 4 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area625,485 people
  2. Anderson Creek, NC Micro Area150,137 people
  3. Sanford, NC Micro Area70,258 people
  4. Henderson, NC Micro Area42,638 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area18 mi northwest
  2. Henderson, NC Micro Area36 mi north
  3. Wilson, NC Micro Area40 mi east
  4. Anderson Creek, NC Micro Area42 mi southwest
  5. Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area48 mi east
  6. Goldsboro, NC Metro Area49 mi southeast
  7. Roanoke Rapids, NC Micro Area70 mi northeast

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗