When it comes to living in North Carolina, it doesn’t get much better than Raleigh. The city itself is home to museums, parks, trails, the North Carolina Symphony, the Capitol, and lots of other things to see, do, and eat. But when it comes to finding a place to live, you might move somewhere away from the hustle and bustle. So with the help of local Movoto real estate agent Aimee Anderson and data from the U.S. Census, AreaVibes, and local business listing we created a list of the five best Raleigh suburbs to live in.
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This affluent Raleigh suburb is the type of place you might find on the cover of a magazine or on the front of a postcard. The streets are not just safe, but beautiful—lined with trees, expansive yards, large single-family homes of all styles. If you’re looking to move to the suburbs to raise your family, you won’t find a better place than Cary. Nearly a quarter of its population are made up of school-age children, and down the line, it’s just about 20 minutes from universities like Duke, North Carolina State, and UNC.
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Morrisville is called the “heart of the triangle,” not just because it’s smack dab in the middle of the Research Triangle but because honestly, this place just has a whole lot of heart. The people who live here are the type who will wave at you and say hello while you’re out, likely walking your dog or playing with your kids. It’s just that kind of place. The housing here ranges from condos and townhomes to estates well above the median home price of $261,600—what you look for will just depend on your budget. But with some of the area’s finest schools, the lowest unemployment rate, and one of the quickest commutes to Raleigh, we’re banking on the fact that the higher than average prices are worth it.
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This town’s name is no accident—after all, the word “apex” means “the top or highest point of something.” And if you’re looking for a top-notch place to live, look no further. In fact, it came in as our best place in North Carolina overall just last year. Anderson recommends Apex for its great schools, and the town has an array of charming, old buildings, and beautiful homes with sprawling lawns.
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Holly Springs isn’t just the safest place near Raleigh, it’s the third safest place in North Carolina. But this is just one reason Holly Springs is a great place to live—particularly if you have a family. The schools here are good, there are summer camps and activities for kids throughout the year through the Parks and Recreation Department, and to top it off, in 2006, the town added a world-class cultural center to its list of amenities—a $5 million complex with a performing arts theater, outdoor stage, library, and a conference center. Of course this town doesn’t just cater to the little ones—there are also two private golf courses, spa and fitness centers, almost 50 restaurants, beautiful houses, and in case you happen to run out of things to do near home, it’s just a quick commute to Raleigh.
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If you’re looking for a place to hike, run, ride your bike, or just marvel at the almighty beauty of nature, Wake Forest might just be the place for you. It’s home to the Falls Lake State Park, a vast swath of land, including 26,000 acres of woodlands and the 12,000-acre Falls Lake. If you’re not big on nature, there’s plenty of indoor fun available as well. In fact, Wake Forest has more amenities per capita than most places near Raleigh, including lots of places to get delicious North Carolina barbecue. If all that’s not enough to get you packing, just take a look at some of the houses here.
If you’re interested in moving to one of these five communities, or anywhere at all really, just get in touch. You tell us where you want to live, and we’ll take it from there.
We used the input of local Movoto real estate agent, Aimee Anderson to create this list, but we also used sources like the U.S. Census, AreaVibes, and local business listings to look at each of Raleigh’s 12 suburbs in terms of these criteria:
We ranked each place with a score from one to 12 in the above categories, added in bonus points per Anderson’s recommendations, and then averaged all of these into one overall score for each place. The five lowest scores went to our five winners. 
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