25 best places to live in the US in 2017: Two NC Cities Make The List

[metro.m]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

This data is pulled by metros. Both Raleigh's and Durham's metros are compact and the combined data includes two core counties that represent the lion's share of the overall reported 1.75 million people. Housing in core counties tends to be more expensive than outlying counties. The further you get from employment centers, the lower housing costs tend to be. Charlotte's metro is even physically larger than the two Triangle MSA's areas combined and the core county of Mecklenburg represents a smaller share of the total population with more of the reported data coming from outlying counties comparatively.

Correct.

However the RDU metro is actually around 2.1 million. The info from the article is incorrect.

[Flamenguista]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

This data is pulled by metros. Both Raleigh's and Durham's metros are compact and the combined data includes two core counties that represent the lion's share of the overall reported 1.75 million people. Housing in core counties tends to be more expensive than outlying counties. The further you get from employment centers, the lower housing costs tend to be. Charlotte's metro is even physically larger than the two Triangle MSA's areas combined and the core county of Mecklenburg represents a smaller share of the total population with more of the reported data coming from outlying counties comparatively.

Makes total sense.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by metro.m

Correct.

However the RDU metro is actually around 2.1 million. The info from the article is incorrect.

The population data they used was from combining the two individual MSAs, not the CSA. The CSA was 2.17M in 2015. It was also clearly not up to date since the combined population of the Triangle MSAs as of 2015 was estimated at ~1.83M (~1.274M + ~.552M) My guess is that data they used was from 2013 estimates. Charlotte's MSA estimate was also not up to date and further strengthens my assumption about the data being old.

[urbancharlotte]

Here's the most recent city information for Raleigh, Durham, and Charlotte from the census.

Raleigh
Per capita income-$31,708
Median household income-$55,389
Median home value-$208,800
Median rent-$926

Raleigh city North Carolina QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Durham
Per capita income-$29,626
Median household income-$50,420
Median home value-$182,000
Median rent-$889

Durham city North Carolina QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Charlotte
Per capita income-$32,254
Median household income-$53,637
Median home value-$172,000
Median rent-$926

Charlotte city North Carolina QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau