Raleigh, NC vs Cary, NC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Cary spends 13.4% more per capita than Raleigh ($2,146/person difference). Raleigh, NC has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 76/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $858 | $493 |
| Income Tax | $806 | $801 |
| Intergovernmental | $14,128 | $26,541 |
| Charges & Fees | $2,681 | $1,981 |
| Other | $4,740 | $3,182 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $277 | $353 |
| Highways & Roads | $448 | $0 |
| Education | $6 | $0 |
| Public Welfare | $498 | $58 |
| Hospitals | $669 | $322 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,391 | $1,581 |
| Housing | $2,712 | $1,880 |
| Sewerage | $281 | $338 |
| Utilities | $2,469 | $3,759 |
| Interest on Debt | $1,513 | $733 |
| Other | $3,646 | $7,034 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.