Cary Facts and Figures

FROM MONEY MAGAZINE 2006 RANKINGS
City statsBest places average
Median family income
(per year)
$98,360$76,893
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$89,337$68,109
Sales tax7.00%6.55%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)
8.25%*6.46%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)
6.00%*2.74%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average for the state)
$2,203$2,207
Job growth %
(2000-2005)
16.14%10.97%
Housing
City statsBest places average
Median home price$256,900$259,566
Home price gain
(2004-2005)
4.80%9.26%
Education
City statsBest places average
Colleges, universities and
professional schools
68
Junior colleges and
technical institutes
00
Test scores reading
(% +/- state average)
7.7%13.3%
Test scores math
(% +/- state average)
6.6%16.9%
% students attending
public/private schools
91.3/8.7088.4/11.59
Quality of life
City statsBest places average
Air quality index
(% of days AQI ranked as good)
55.6%71.9%
Personal crime risk
(100 is nat'l average; lower is better)
3945
Property crime risk
(100 is nat'l average; lower is better)
7974
Personal crime incidents
(per 100,000)
93228
Property crime incidents
(per 100,000)
2,0063,105
Median commute time
(in minutes)
21.120.8
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer
7.3%13.4%
Leisure and culture
City statsBest places average
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)
1122
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)
1,9002,268
Bars
(within 15 miles)
58127
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)
4374
Libraries
(within 15 miles)
2743
Museums (accredited by AAM
within 30 miles)
57
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)010
Weather
City statsBest places average
Annual precipitation
(inches)
46.4936.00
Clear days111107
High temp in July ° F87.9°87.7°
Low temp in Jan ° F30.1°23.5°
Health*
City statsBest places average
Has health plan
(% of residents)
86.4%88.2%
Body mass index
(avg. for residents)
2627
Cancer mortality
(per 100,000, age-adjusted)
189.5191.3
Cardiac mortality
(per 100,000)
231.9202.0
Meet the neighbors
City statsBest places average
Median age33.734.5
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)
63.1%63.9%
Married60.8%54.3%
Divorced7.3%9.3%
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)
$7,907$7,549