Living in Wake Forest, NC
Wake Forest is a mid-size city of 52,844 people in Wake County, North Carolina. It's about 12 miles from Raleigh, NC. Summer highs average 88°F and winter highs 50°F, with about 3 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $475k and rent runs about $2k a month.
52,844people
$475kTypical home
$1,596/moRent
88° / 50°Summer / winter
3"Snow
254Sunny days
128Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Mid-size city of 52,844
- Part of a metro area
- About 2,659 people per sq mi
- 12 mi to Raleigh, NC
- 12 mi to Raleigh, NC
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $475k (≈$2,992/mo)
- Median rent $1,596/mo
- Median household income $124k
- Property tax about 0.8% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 88°F
- Winter highs around 50°F
- Muggy summers (dew point 67°F)
- 254 sunny days a year (109 totally clear)
- 111 cloudy days a year
- 33 of 90 winter days are gray
- 128 days a year with rain or snow
- 3" of snow a year
- 1 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- 1 day a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (90 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,023 per 100k)
People
- Median age 39
- 39% of households have kids
- 13% are 65 or older
- 60% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 8% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 34 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 16 mi to RDU airport
- 16 mi to RDU (major hub)
- 15 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 80% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 2009
- 98% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 338 ft
- 87 mi to the ocean
- 33 mi to a big lake
- 2 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 106 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 39 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 1,200 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 148 bars within 25 mi
- 330 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 15 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 24 museums within 25 mi
- 42 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- Farmers market in town
Everyday
- Schools in the top 22% of North Carolina districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 15 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 15 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
Politics
- Wake County: D+25 in 2024
- North Carolina: R+3 in 2024
Natural hazards
- High hurricane risk
- Moderate tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- High flood risk
- Low drought risk
- Low winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk