Cary, NC population, income and ZIP codes

Cary town is a mid-size city in North Carolina, with 176,686 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #7 of 777 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 39.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Cary town earn a median of $129,399 a year, 64.8% above the national figure of $78,538 and 111% above the $61,228 median for the 459 North Carolina cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 5.3% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Cary town is valued at $525,200, 73.1% above the national figure and 139% above the $219,800 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,621 a month, 15.3% above the national figure, or roughly $19,452 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 15% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 66.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.