2026 Compare Cities Economy:
Raleigh, NC vs Highlands, NC

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Highlights
- Household income in Highlands, is 29% less than it is in Raleigh and is 33% below the National Average.
- Raleigh unemployment rate is 4.3%.
- Highlands unemployment rate is 4.2%.
 Raleigh, NCHighlands, NCUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock4.2%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.0%1.6%
 Future Job Growth44.2%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes7.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock5.3%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$42,632  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$52,070$69,021
 Family Median Income$95,393  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Raleigh, NCHighlands, NCUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock12.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K2.8%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock17.3%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.2%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock3.0%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.7%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock11.3%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K12.9%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock12.9%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K8.6%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock5.4%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Raleigh, NCHighlands, NCUnited States
 Management, business, finance21.6%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock2.0%6.5%
 Community, social services1.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.6%1.2%
 Education, library6.2%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock5.9%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock0.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock17.0%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.8%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock4.2%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support21.7%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.4%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.7%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock1.8%13.1%
Reviews for Raleigh    224 Reviews

I moved to Raleigh in 2018. Before that, I lived in Orange County CA, Boulder CO, South Africa, Northern California, Arizona, and Toronto. I say all this to give  More

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Excellent for a great many people or categories of people. As far as prices: ratio of wage and job opportunity here with housing remains one of the better ones in the  More

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Over 3 years ago

I attended university here in the early 90s and came back around 2005 and never left. I'm surprised at the other negative reviews honestly. Yes, housing is pricey in  More

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Reviews for Highlands    4 Reviews

Love BestPlaces, but most of their statistics are incorrect for the actual town of Highlands which is extremely expensive. I assume they are using information from Macon  More

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Over 5 years ago

This used to be a quaint, quiet, sweet little town, but it has ballooned into a rich man's Mecca. Fist of all, it's a tiny town... so parking is at a premium and it gets  More

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Over 15 years ago

I have run two businesses in Highlands. It is a very seasonal business trend. The rents are high and so is the cost of doing business, including labor cost, cost of  More

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