Area Data
Raleigh/Durham Demographics
Population
The population of the Research Triangle Area continues to grow at a rate that exceeds the growth of both North Carolina and the United States. The historical and projected populations of the three "core" counties of the Research Triangle Area are as follows:
Income
Mean household income trends/projections for the three "core" counties that comprise the Research Triangle Region, compared to North Carolina and entire United States are as follows:
The area's wealth index, a measure of relative total person income per capita weighted by the source of the income, remains stable. The national average for any given year is set at 100.0. By comparison, the counties of Durham, Orange and Wake had values of 101.87, 105.24 and 119.52, respectively.
Economy & Employment
Much of the gradual improvement in the region's commercial real estate is being driven by relocations and expansions of companies attracted in part by the region's lower costs, according to a December report on the region's economy by Wachovia. Job expansion and a cost of living 7% below the national average has given the seven-county area an above-average surge in population, which rose to 1.4 million last year, according to Moody's Economy.com, a unit of Moody's Corp.
The area's highly educated work force, with its strong technology and biotech skills base, is attracting financial-services concerns such as Credit Suisse Group and technology-and-biotech companies that have long been drivers in the region. Wachovia senior economist Mark Vitner recently projected that 25,000 jobs will be created across the Triangle in 2007, on top of an [at the time] estimated 35,000 last year, a record. He added that "There are a lot of companies that have relocated to the Triangle that are still staffing up". As an example Fidelity Investments said last year that it would create at least 2,000 jobs in the Triangle within three years. Vitner said the slower job growth (2007 vs. 2006) locally will be the result of a slowdown in the national economy caused by "the winding down of the housing boom."
Population
The population of the Research Triangle Area continues to grow at a rate that exceeds the growth of both North Carolina and the United States. The historical and projected populations of the three "core" counties of the Research Triangle Area are as follows:
Income
Mean household income trends/projections for the three "core" counties that comprise the Research Triangle Region, compared to North Carolina and entire United States are as follows:
The area's wealth index, a measure of relative total person income per capita weighted by the source of the income, remains stable. The national average for any given year is set at 100.0. By comparison, the counties of Durham, Orange and Wake had values of 101.87, 105.24 and 119.52, respectively.
Economy & Employment
Much of the gradual improvement in the region's commercial real estate is being driven by relocations and expansions of companies attracted in part by the region's lower costs, according to a December report on the region's economy by Wachovia. Job expansion and a cost of living 7% below the national average has given the seven-county area an above-average surge in population, which rose to 1.4 million last year, according to Moody's Economy.com, a unit of Moody's Corp.
The area's highly educated work force, with its strong technology and biotech skills base, is attracting financial-services concerns such as Credit Suisse Group and technology-and-biotech companies that have long been drivers in the region. Wachovia senior economist Mark Vitner recently projected that 25,000 jobs will be created across the Triangle in 2007, on top of an [at the time] estimated 35,000 last year, a record. He added that "There are a lot of companies that have relocated to the Triangle that are still staffing up". As an example Fidelity Investments said last year that it would create at least 2,000 jobs in the Triangle within three years. Vitner said the slower job growth (2007 vs. 2006) locally will be the result of a slowdown in the national economy caused by "the winding down of the housing boom."