Raleigh sales tax rate (NC)

7.25% in Raleigh — low. It ranks 62 of 94 covered metros, -0.7 pts against the 7.95% median. On $26,000 of taxable household spending that is $1,885 a year, $182 below it.

Local government sets 2.5% of the total, 34% of the bill; the state takes 4.75%. 3 layers stack: North Carolina state 4.75%, Wake County 2%, Wake transit tax 0.5%. The Wake County increment at 2% is the largest local piece — 80% of everything local, worth $520 a year on its own.

2 of 3 covered North Carolina metros, level with the 7.25% state median. The in-state spread runs 7% in Greensboro to 7.25% in Charlotte — 0.25 points wide. On a $5,000 order the gap to Greensboro is $13 — not enough to change where anyone shops.

Same bracket nationally: Charlotte, NC (7.25%). A household relocating between Raleigh and any of them sees no meaningful change in sales tax.

Scale: 482,295 residents, roughly 192,918 households. At $26,000 of taxable spend each, the 2.5% local share pulls about $125,396,700 a year from residents alone — before any visitor or business spending, which in a metro this size is where the rest comes from.

Wake County matched Mecklenburg's transit half-cent in 2017, so Raleigh and Charlotte now charge the same combined rate.

Rates move when a district measure passes or a local option expires. Confirm the current figure with the North Carolina Department of Revenue before filing or quoting it to a customer.