Wake County · North Carolina
Raleigh, NC demographics
Population, income and the local tax burden that sits on top of them — sourced from the Census Bureau and the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Quick answer
Raleigh, NC has a population of 482,295 and a median household income of $87,263 — about $7,272 a month before tax. That ranks 17 of 94 covered metros by income and 40 of 94 by population.
Population
482,295
City limits, ACS 5-year
Median household income
$87,263
ACS 5-year estimate
Combined sales tax
7.25%
North Carolina + local
Income rank
#17
of 94 covered metros
Estimated annual sales tax on a median household
A Raleigh household at the median income of $87,263 spending roughly a quarter of pre-tax income on taxable retail goods would pay about $1,582 a year in sales tax at 7.25%. This is an illustration, not a filing figure: the taxable share of spending varies with household composition, and North Carolina exempts or discounts several categories. Wake County matched Mecklenburg's transit half-cent in 2017, so Raleigh and Charlotte now charge the same combined rate.
Method: median household income × 25% taxable share × combined rate. The 25% share is a rough national benchmark from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, not a Raleigh-specific measurement.
Sources
What each figure on this page comes from.
- Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
- Source: North Carolina Department of Revenue rate tables · rates as published for 2026