BEST Suburbs For Families To Live In Raleigh, NC
BEST Suburbs For Families To Live In Raleigh, NC
Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and wondering what the top best and safest cities surrounding Raleigh would be for you and your family to live? This is one of the top questions I get asked every single week followed by which areas have the best schools. So today we'll be exploring four of the best towns that rank in the top places to live for safety and If you want to know more of that information, stay tuned because we're at it next.
Welcome to the channel or welcome back. I'm Brandi Nemergut, a local real estate agent right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. Your connection to all things real estate and all things Raleigh. If you haven't already subscribed to the channel yet, click the button below and tap that little bell and you'll be notified every time we drop a new video.
Not only do I love making these videos to help y'all, I also love to help you with your real estate needs. So if you're relocating to the Raleigh or anywhere surrounding the Raleigh area and looking to buy a home, we would love to help. All you have to do is reach out to us. My number is right here on the screen.
Whether you want to give me a call, shoot me a text, or send me an email, we would love to chat. Okay, let's just jump right on in and get started. Starting at the top of our charts, we have Cary. Not only was Cary recently named the number one safest city to live in America, but when it comes to North Carolina as a whole, or we break it down even further, by the Raleigh area, or even the county, which is Wake County here, Cary is the Carrie continually ranks in the top 1 to 5 in best places to live, best places and suburbs to raise a family, best suburbs for young professionals, and even best places and suburbs with the best public schools, according to Niche.
com. What makes Carrie such an attractive area? For starters, many people want to live here as it's centrally located and easy to get around. It's just a quick 15 ish minutes to downtown Raleigh, and it's close to some of the top universities in the country. There's a diverse food scene here, along with great shopping.
It's close to amenities, entertainment, and food. and a wide range of outdoor activities. The city's even been working on progressing downtown Cary and has transformed the once quiet downtown into a great space for all to enjoy. Cary is in a prime location located just west of Raleigh and has easy access to I 40, which will get you to the RTP and easy access to the Beecher Mountains, which are just two to three hours away.
Cary's also next to I 540 loop that'll take you to North Raleigh and Durham. Another factor is the job market, home to Sass and Epic Games, who created the popular Fortnite game and close to the RTP that employs over 65, 000 employees in over 375 companies. It houses top companies like IBM, Cisco, Lenovo, and even Apple, just to name a few.
Raleigh was even named fifth in U. S. job market according to WRAL. Cary is also known for its great schools. Cary is part of the Wake County School District and ranks in the top best schools in North Carolina. Cary has great outdoor space with multiple lakes and over 35 greenways. With over 70 miles to explore and 34 parks totaling 2, 700 acres.
Carrie has a lot of great festivals and at the Coco booth amphitheater, which has a really great outdoor space. Not only do they have some great concerts there, one of my favorites is the Chinese Lantern Festival. Each year it attracts over 200, 000 people. When it comes to the housing market, the median price point for a single family residence is approximately 682, 500.
And that's based on the last 30 days in late 2023. A townhome is around 487, 500 and houses here can go all the way up to 3. 6 million. And currently in October 2023, there's a house here that's listed for 9. 6 million. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's just under 10, 000 square feet. Next, let's talk about Apex.
The town of Apex and the RTP are consistently recognized by outside sources for being a great place to live and work. Not only was Apex recently voted number one best place to buy a home within the Raleigh area, and even the county, which is Wake County here, Apex continues to rank in the top one to five best places to live.
best places and suburbs to raise a family. Best suburbs for young professionals and even in suburbs for best public schools. According to niche dot com. This week, CBS 17 News reported Apex as the 12th best small city in America with other Wake County cities. ranking high overall, including Holly Springs, Wake Forest, Morrisville, and even Fuquay Verena.
When it comes to location, Apex is near the center of the Research Triangle region, and about 20 minutes outside of the Raleigh Durham Airport. It's close to three major research universities, including NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke University. And close to the innovative businesses that make up the renowned RTP.
When it comes to jobs, there's a wide variety in and around Apex from professional to technical to scientific. It's a short 20 minute commute to the RTP, which as I mentioned earlier, houses over 300 companies employing over 65, 000 people on a 7, 000 acre campus. Now, just for reference, That's about as many people that live in Apex altogether.
And when it comes to schools, just like Cary, Apex is part of the Wake County Public School System, which is one of the best educational districts in the state with highly rated public, charter, and private schools. When it comes to safety, the Triangle area is known for its low crime and Apex has proven itself to be even safer than some.
Apex ranks in the top 10 safest cities in North Carolina. And according to best places. net, it gives Apex a relatively low score of only 10. 3 percent in crime compared to the national average of 22. 7%. Apex is known for its lively downtown, where you'll find cute shops, great restaurants. The town has great community festivals and plenty of parks and outdoor space.
When it comes to housing, the median price point for a single family residence is 693, 000 and a townhouse will run you right around 465, 000. Next up, we have Holly Springs. When it comes to location, Holly Springs is in between Cary and Apex. It's about a 10 to 15 minute drive from either side and about a 25 minute drive to downtown Cary.
The outer loop of the triangle I 540 passes just north of Holly Springs and is in the process of being completed in the next few years. This will make it even easier for other parts of Holly Springs to access. When it comes to jobs, unlike other typical commuter towns, Holly Springs is different. The town has done an amazing job.
Setting aside land and over the years, Holly Springs has been developing its own high tech industries. Today it's home to some of the top biotech and life science companies like Amgen, Syracuse, and Fujifilm. And Holly Springs will be less than a 20 minute commute to the new Triangle Innovation Point in Chatham County.
It'll be over a 450 acre campus for biotech and life science companies. It'll also be home to Vin Fast. For the electric car manufacturer, when it comes to great schools, just like our two previous towns, Holly Springs is no different. There are top rated public schools, private, or even charter schools to choose from.
And when it comes to crime, Holly Springs is considered one of the safest cities to live in the country. According to best places, dot net, Holly Springs rates an 8.5 out of a hundred. And Holly Springs even has a lower crime rate in comparison to other western Wake County towns, which is pretty impressive.
And when it comes to outdoor spaces and amenities, Holly Springs has a quaint old downtown as well as a new downtown, including shops and restaurants. even though technically it's not considered a downtown. They hold great community events, have plenty of parks and outdoor spaces, and are a close drive to its neighboring cities if you want to do something different.
When it comes to housing, the median price point for a home is approximately 650, 000 and a townhome will run you about 485, 000. And this is in late 2023. Next we have Fuquay Verena. Fuquay Verena has absolutely exploded in growth and interest in the past decade and is one of the fastest growing towns in the Raleigh area.
But I will say in saying that it still really does have a small town feel and has a mixture of more populated areas along with more of that country feel where you can drive for a while and see stretches of farmland and lots of trees. When it comes to location, Fuquay is going to be further outside of the triangle.
And looking at the map, it's going to be on the southwest side. So if you have a job in the RTP, living in Fuquay could be about a 30 to 45 minute commute. In downtown Raleigh, you're looking right around anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes. So if you need to drive to any of these areas, that could be a bit of a stretch.
But if you can work from home, you can easily access all of your needs between Fuquay Verena and even its neighboring town of Holly Springs. Now a fun fact, if you combine Fuquay Verena and Holly Springs, it covers half the square miles of Cary. So driving from one part of Fuquay Verena to Holly Springs is like driving just half of the size of Cary.
So it's easy to enjoy things from Holly Springs, like Bass Lake, the Holly Springs Farmers Market, or even Ting Park. They're literally right in your backyard. The I 540 outer loop will eventually help Fuquay Verena get better connected to the rest of the triangle, which will help alleviate the traffic and commuting times into Raleigh.
However, as a side note, I 540 is a toll road, so you will have to pay. Now, when it comes to jobs. Many people who live in Fuquay either work remotely or commute into the Triangle. And if you're in the biotech field, the neighboring town of Holly Springs has some top notch biotech and life science companies like we mentioned earlier.
When it comes to schools, the schools in Fuquay Varina are new and improved. 20 years ago, Fuquay Varina High School was age based. So the town tore it down and built a new one. Now, once this new high school was built, some of the kids that went to Holly Springs high school were actually reassigned to Fuquay Verena high school.
And there's also a new high school, Willow Springs high school, and a popular charter school, Southern Wake Academy. Now this technically has a Holly Springs address, but if you ask me, it's in Fuquay Verena. Now when it comes to downtown, Fuquay Verena actually has two. And that's because at one time it used to be two separate towns the town of Fuquay and the town of Verena So both of the downtowns are going to be within a mile of each other There's a lot of cute shops and some great places to eat now when it comes to shopping Fuquay Verena does have some big box chain stores that are important to many, and at the end of 2021, a big Costco opened, and it's actually the largest Costco in North Carolina.
Now this Costco technically has a Raleigh address, but it borders Raleigh, Garner, and Fuquay Verena. When it comes to amenities and outdoor spaces, Fuquay Verena has 20 parks, with more than 500 acres spread throughout the town, and 36 miles of walkable trails. Fuquay Verena is also a very dog friendly place.
Isn't that right? They have an amazing dog park. Don't they? And an awesome park with a splash pad for the kids. Even though you want to go in the water, don't you? You want to go play in the water? Yes. Yes, they do. They do? When it comes to housing, a single family residence will run you approximately 435, 000 and a townhome 375, 000.
And that's as of late 2023. When it comes to weather, we get to enjoy all four seasons here. Now spring and fall are my absolute favorite. They remind me so much of the weather in California. The one thing I will say about the spring is when the pollen comes, there's a three week window where there's just a yellow yucky film on everything and it will make your allergies go crazy.
But once we get past that point, I feel like it's pretty good. Now, when it comes to summers, they are hot, sticky, and humid. Now, personally speaking, I came from the West coast, so I was used to that dry heat so we can handle temperatures in the upper nineties and even a hundred, and it wasn't too, too bad.
Now here we're about in the eighties to nineties in the summer, and even though the temperature doesn't sound hot. When it comes to the humidity, it is hot, but in saying that we do have air conditioning here. So when you can't handle the heat, you can get back inside and stay cool. Now, when it comes to our winters, we have pretty mild winters.
I would say roughly our temperatures range, they could drop as low as 30 degrees, but on average, they're in the 40s to 50s, and in the daytime, they'll even reach up to the 60s or 70s. Now, there is a running joke here that you can have all four seasons in the same week or even the same day. Now, when it comes to rain, we are very green, luscious, beautiful trees here, and there is a reason for that.
On average, we have about 47 inches of rain each year. Now in comparison in California, we averaged about 11 to 12 inches of rain. So definitely a big difference. And I do have to say when it rains, and if you are on the highway and it's raining hard, you have to be careful. Everybody slows down to a crawl because the rain is coming down so fast.
You can't see a thing. But in saying that, as quick as it pours, it usually goes as well. And one thing that I forgot to mention, when it comes to snow here, Now we don't get too much snow within this Raleigh area and the surrounding area. I would say on average between one to two times a year we have a chance of snow.
Now in the six years that I've been here it's only snowed twice where it's actually stuck. Typically it's just a couple of inches and it lasts anywhere from a day, a couple days, or a max a week. So good news for us because one thing that we do not have here are the equipment to clear the roads. So what you will find typically is if there's even a forecast of a snowflake in sight You will find a lot of the schools will shut down because they don't want to worry about the transportation of the children in case it does snow.
If you're looking for a lifestyle with great location, safety, and top rated schools, one of these suburbs may be just the place to call home. If you found this information helpful, please click the like button below so others like you can find this information as well. And if you're considering relocating to the Raleigh area or anywhere surrounding the Raleigh area and looking to purchase a home, we would love to help you.
All you have to do is reach out to us. My number's right here on the screen. Whether you want to give me a call, shoot me a text or send me an email, however you want to get ahold of me. I got your back when relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina. Till next time we'll see y'all later.
Brandy Nemergut, Realtor ~ eXp Realty Raleigh, NC
919-583-6895
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