North Carolina cities

The best places to live in North Carolina

North Carolina's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Apex leads the list.

We scored North Carolina's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
2 Cary $404,300 $1,392 64 82
6 Concord $247,800 $1,091 72 77
23 Charlotte $258,000 $1,260 41 60
29 High Point $167,900 $938 56 52
35 Durham $264,100 $1,157 33 50
41 Fayetteville $138,800 $1,017 54 46
44 Raleigh $285,400 $1,237 37 44
45 Greensboro $169,100 $944 42 43
61 Wilmington $279,900 $1,093 26 29
63 Winston-Salem $158,600 $871 44 29

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within North Carolina. Updated 2026.