|
 Facts
of Interest
Following the American Revolution, part
of the former English colony of Carolina became the state of North
Carolina, and a permanent capital city was
necessary. Several prominent North Carolina
citizens lived in Wake County at the base of the
Piedmont Plateau and wanted the capital to be
established there. Wake County was centrally
located between the populous coastal plain and
the scattered settlements of the back country and
mountains. The General
Assembly purchased 1,000 acres of Wake County
land from Colonel Joel Lane upon the
recommendation of a legislative commission. In
1792, the
City of Raleigh was established and named in
honor of navigator and historian Sir Walter
Raleigh.
Raleigh has the distinction of
being the only state capital to have been
established on land specifically purchased by the
state for its government seat. The city's
founding fathers called Raleigh the City of
Oaks, and dedicated themselves to
maintaining the area's wooded tracts and grassy
parks.
Regardless of Raleigh's
expansion, the City of Oaks will
always remember its roots and will carry its
founding philosophies into its third century. To
learn more about Raleigh from the Greater
Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, click here.
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Climate
Average high: 70 degrees F
Average low: 47 degrees F
Median: 60 degrees F
Mean annual rainfall (inches): 44.23
Average relative humidity (percent): 70
Source: National
Climatic Data Center, 1997
Size
Raleigh : 110.5 square miles
Area available for annexation: 63.8 square miles
Wake County: 833.92
Population
Chapel Hill: 45,600
Durham: 172,004
Durham County: 211,708
Orange County: 108,752
Raleigh: 273,011
Wake County: 575,696
Source: NC State Data
Center, 1998; cities of Raleigh, Durham, and
Chapel Hill
Population Diversity
(percent)
Caucasian: 75.7
African-American: 21.0
Asian or Pacific Islander: 3.0
Hispanic Origin: 2.3
Native American: 0.3
Source: US Bureau of
the Census, 1997
Elevation
434 feet above sea level
Distance to Major
Cities (in miles)
Atlanta: 406
Charlotte: 165
Chicago: 799
Cincinnati: 565
Detroit: 688
Durham: 24
Greensboro: 78
New Orleans: 874
New York: 490
Orlando: 596
Pittsburgh: 503
Washington, DC: 262
Income
Median family income: (Wake County)
$54,700
Median household effective buying income:
(Wake County) $42,531
Mean household income:
(Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) $67,987
Source: North Carolina Data
Center, 1998; Sales and Marketing Management,
1998; Woods and Poole Econmics, 1998.
Raleigh,
Wake County, and
Research Triangle Top 20 Employers
| North Carolina (State of) |
23,230 |
| International Business Machines
Corp. (IBM) |
13,000 |
| Wake
County Public School System |
9,209 |
| North Carolina State University |
6,123 |
| Northern
Telecom, Inc. |
4,848 |
| Wake Medical Center |
4,625 |
| Winn-Dixie
StoresRaleigh, Inc. |
4,300 |
| Rex
Healthcare |
3,519 |
| Carolina Power & Light |
3,134 |
| Wake County |
2,694 |
| City of Raleigh |
2,461 |
| SAS Institute, Inc. |
2,314 |
| MCI Telecommunications |
2,000 |
| American Airlines
Reservation Center |
1,700 |
| Exide Electronics Corporation |
1,500 |
| United Parcel Service |
1,480 |
| CellularOne/GTE
Wireless |
1,458 |
| Research Triangle
Institute |
1,400 |
| U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency |
1,400 |
| U.S. Postal Service |
1,352 |
Source: Executive
Summary, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce,
1998
Accolades
#1 entrepreneurial hot spot, Entrepreneur,
October 1998
#2 best place to live in America, large
southern cities category, Money, June
1998.
#1 most interesting place in the U.S. for
German companies, Capital, April 1998.
#5 state (North Carolina) for corporate
expansion and locations, Site Selection,
February/March 1998.
#10 city for logistics operations, Business
Facilities, February 1998
#4 entrepreneurial hot spot, Cognetics
Inc., January 1998
#19 best city to earn and save money, ReliaStar,
January 1998
#2 choice to live and do business, Outlook,
January 1998
#9 hottest city for selling, Sales
& Marketing Management, January 1998
#10 best place to start a business, P.O.V.,
December/January 1998
#5 disability-friendly city, New
Mobility, December 1997
#1 state (North Carolina) for BizSites
(site lcoations)
#5 state for hot spots (readers choice), Plants
Sites & Parks, November/December 1997
#5 most improved city, Fortune,
November 1997
#6 best cities for women, Ladies' Home
Journal, November 1997
16th best place to live, Money,
July 1997
3rd best mid size place to live, Money,
July 1997
#1 mid size place to work from home, Money,
April 1997
Top 20 electronics manufacturing sites, Electronic
Business Today, March 1997
Top 50 places to retire, Fifty
Fabulous Places to Retire, 1997
Top 15 cities for job growth, Time,
January 1997
2nd healthiest city for women, American
Health for Women, January/ February 1997
Taxes
Personal
Income Tax
North Carolina taxable income is based on taxable income calculated for
federal income tax purposes. The tax rate is 6
percent or 7 percent plus an amount calculated on
a graduated scale.
Sales
Tax
4 percent state tax; 2 percent county
tax
Property
Taxes
Property is taxed for the fiscal year July 1
through June 30, and the tax bill is based on the
value of the property established on the
preceding January 1.
1998 tax rates
(cents per $100 valuation)
| Apex |
$.52 |
| Cary |
$.54 |
| Fuquay-Varina
|
$.59 |
| Garner
|
$.64 |
| Holly
Springs |
$.62 |
| Knightdale
|
$.51 |
| Morrisville
|
$.60 |
| Raleigh
|
$.544 |
| Rolesville
|
$.55 |
| Wake
Forest |
$.56 |
| Wendell
|
$.59 |
| Wake
County |
$.63 |
| Zebulon
|
$.525 |
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