Congratulations, Raleigh residents! You live in the city Bankrate named the best place to live in 2022.
Bankrate, a personal finance publication, used three factors — what it costs, how it feels and who’s moving there — to determine its top-20 list. The list’s second and third spots went to Charleston, South Carolina, and Austin, Texas, respectively.
Raleigh named no. 1 place to live
“The top spot on our list goes to Raleigh, North Carolina. As one of the anchors of the Research Triangle, the city continues to attract young employees and major companies to plant roots in The Tar Heel State,” Bankrate wrote when this list dropped this month.
“Last year, Apple announced plans for a new East Coast campus in the area, which will create at least 3,000 new jobs — and more reasons for more people to want to move here. Outside of the office and the research laboratory, Raleigh is quickly climbing the cultural ranks as a place to eat, drink and enjoy the outdoors, with a mild climate that gives residents ample time to disconnect. Plus, Raleigh offers what many cities struggle to deliver: low crime rates.”
Here’s how Bankrate ranked Raleigh in the following categories:
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Affordability: 7/10
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Diversity: 5/10
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Job market: 8/10
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Safety: 9/10
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Wellness: 7/10
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Highlights: NC State football games, Carolina Hurricanes hockey games, North Carolina Museum of Art.
For the full list of 20 cities, visit bankrate.com/real-estate/best-places-to-live/us.
How steeply have Raleigh home prices increased?
The chart below, using Redfin Metro Area Data, looks at how the median home sale price in Raleigh has changed since June 2021.
▪ Raleigh’s median home prices were at their highest at the end of May this year. The highest price on this chart is $458,000 for median home prices in Raleigh on May 30, 2022, according to Redfin Metro Area Data.
▪ Raleigh’s median home prices were at their lowest (relative to the year-long span of this graph) at the beginning of June last year — $365,000. The median home price was also this expensive in early September last year, according to Redfin Metro Area Data.
Kimberly Cataudella (she/her) is a service journalism reporter for The News & Observer.