Location

Moving into our first main category, let’s compare living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC based on location.

This comparison really depends on where in Raleigh you live, and obviously where you need to commute to from a work and school standpoint.  

Overall, Raleigh and Cary are very equal in being in an excellent overall location within the area and state.

Raleigh is overall the center of much of the entertainment, so living in Raleigh itself has that advantage, but much of Cary is 20 minutes or less from much of the entertainment in the heart of Raleigh.  

Work wise, Cary is generally better to live in if you work at the Research Triangle Park as it offers quick commutes that can avoid the major traffic, and if you work in downtown Raleigh, some parts of Cary can be just as good or better than some locations in north Raleigh.  

Overall, the better location really depends on your specific needs, but the eastern parts of Cary and the central parts of Raleigh are the best locations in the whole triangle area.

Entertainment

Next up, let’s compare living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC based on their entertainment options.

As mentioned in the location comparison, Raleigh and Cary are right next to each other, so both can easily enjoy the entertainment of the other.  

However, with Raleigh being the larger city and the state capital, it naturally has many more entertainment options.

If you’re one who likes the entertainment options of a larger city, Raleigh is really growing and has much more of that big city feel than Cary.  

Raleigh has the area’s only professional sports team in the Carolina Hurricanes, NC State’s athletics, multiple major concert and show venues, the state fair as well as large events downtown, and has a growing nightlife scene with tons of amazing breweries.  

It also has some amazing restaurants, as it’s been an under the radar foodie destination for years now.

But if you’re used to a smaller town feel, Cary is going to give you that over Raleigh, as Cary’s downtown is such a cute place with quite a few great restaurants and breweries.  

And Cary does hold many events in its’ downtown, but on a much smaller scale than Raleigh overall.  

It does have the NCFC and Carolina Courage soccer teams, and the Koka Booth Amphitheater for outdoor symphonies, smaller concerts, and events as well.  

Cary is also known to have some massive shopping centers that have just about anything and everything you could ever need.  

Check out our blogs on the best things to do in Raleigh NC and top things to do in Cary NC!

Parks

Moving into our next comparison of living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC, let’s take a look at the differences between Raleigh and Cary’s park systems.  

With over 6100 acres spread amongst its’ 224 parks, and 117 miles of paved trails, Raleigh is known for its’ massive park system.  

But despite those numbers, you could argue Cary has an even better park system with over 80 miles of paved trails and 2700 acres of natural area, which huge for its’ size.  

Both Raleigh and Cary offer just about everything you need with their park system, but in my opinion, Raleigh has an edge over Cary for those who want to be in nature and enjoy long walks, hikes and bike rides due to its’ massive nature preserves and lakes with surrounding trails, as well as having a more cohesive and connected greenway system.  Not that Cary doesn’t offer these things, Raleigh just has more.

The one drawback about Cary’s greenway system is it involves many shorter greenways that are often connected by sidewalks along some of its’ main roadways, so you have to cross more intersections in Cary if you’re going for a longer bike ride.  

Raleigh offers the ability to ride miles of trails without ever seeing cars or having to cross a street.  

But when it comes to parks for kids, it’s really hard to beat Cary’s offerings, and in Cary, it really feels like there is a park or playground around every corner.  Also, many of its’ parks are recently built and very well maintained, such as the new Downtown Cary Park, so the facilities feel top notch.

Raleigh also has great spaces for kids, but many of its’ parks are on the older side and are generally, more spread out than Cary.  However, Raleigh has been renovating quite a few parks recently and it does have Pullen Park, one of the best parks for kids in the whole area.  

For more information on Raleigh NC parks, check out our blog on the best parks in Raleigh NC!

Schools

Moving on, Raleigh and Cary both have great schools, but is there a difference?

Both are in the Wake County Public School System, which is generally known be offer great schools.  

But, while there are some great public schools in Raleigh, Cary has recently been one of the most popular locations in the triangle to move to because of the excellent public schools in its’ area, especially on the west side of Cary.  

Both also offer quite a few private and charter school options, but overall, Raleigh offers more of both and has some very highly sought after options.

It’s important for you to do your own research on schools though to ensure you find the right fit for your family.

Neighborhoods

The last comparison between living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC involves housing, so let’s compare Raleigh and Cary based on their neighborhoods.  And for more detailed information, see our blogs on the best neighborhoods of Raleigh NC and the best neighborhoods of Cary NC.

While Raleigh and Cary look and feel fairly similar overall, there are some major differences between their neighborhood offerings.

There are pockets of older and smaller homes in Cary, but overall, Cary is known more for luxury living overall and has many newer communities in comparison to Raleigh.  

Now, that’s not to say there is not luxury living in Raleigh as well, because there are quite a few amazing neighborhoods with stunning homes, but Cary’s makeup involves a higher percentage of these type of communities.  

This is reflected in the average home values, as despite all of Raleigh’s luxury neighborhoods, it’s average home value is still around $400k, while Cary’s is close to $600k.  

In Raleigh, neighborhoods just outside of downtown have more historic styles with unique architecture and designs, and many are well over 40 years old.  Homes further outside of them downtown area have more traditional style layouts and are generally between 15-30 years old.

You’ll see quite a few neighborhoods in mid-town Raleigh where older, smaller houses are being torn down and replaced with large, multi-million dollar new construction homes.  And, you’re starting to see that in some of the older Cary neighborhoods as well, but not to the same scale.

Both areas have their share of beautiful golf course communities as well, but perhaps the biggest difference between Raleigh and Cary involves new construction communities.

On the west side of Cary, tons of new construction communities are popping up, some with more affordable, master plan community layouts, and some very high end neighborhoods as well.  

Raleigh has really run out of space to have new construction communities to this scale, so you will see a street with new construction or smaller new construction, luxury communities, but you will not see these massive master plan communities like what’s available on the west side of Cary.  Raleigh did have those communities, but they are now 20 years old or more.  

The amenities in Cary are also a step up over Raleigh’s.  Due to its’ age, many of Raleigh’s neighborhoods near downtown and mid-town Raleigh do not come with built-in amenities like pools, tennis courts, and parks, as many belong to nearby swim and athletic clubs.  

You will find more of these built-in amenities in North Raleigh, as it is generally newer than the other areas of Raleigh.  

But a large majority of Cary’s neighborhoods typically have at least a neighborhood pool, and some of the larger communities really have some amazing pools, playgrounds, and athletic facilities for entertainment.

And when it comes to yard sizes, both areas are pretty comparable, as the older neighborhoods typically had closer to 1/2 acre lots, while the newer construction communities will have closer to 1/4 acre lots.  

So to summarize, Raleigh has generally more affordable housing, and if you want a larger, newer construction home, expect to be in a smaller community, or in a larger community with a mixture of older and newer homes.  

If you want to pay for the up-scale living of Cary and want to be in a large community with similar valued new construction homes, Cary has plenty of options for you.

I hope this blog on living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC was helpful to understand the differences between Raleigh and Cary.  

For more information on living in Raleigh NC and living in Cary NC, see our blog pages on Raleigh NC and Cary NC.

If you need help finding your next home, our team at the W Real Estate Group would love to help!  Please reach out through the contact information below!

Please reach out via our contact information below:

Phone:  919-504-5265

Email:  alison@thewgroupraleigh.com

Website:  www.thewgroupraleigh.com