Tampa vs Raleigh: which should you move to?
Tampa or Raleigh? Housing, rent, crime, climate, income, taxes and transit, side by side, from each city's own published figures. Written for someone deciding where to live, not for a ranking.
Raleigh
Both cities price in US dollars, so the figures net directly, and on the house they land within $98 a month of each other: mortgage, property tax and insurance come to about $2,906 on Tampa's typical home and $2,808 in Raleigh. Tampa's mortgage is priced at August's 6.67% and Raleigh's at September's 7.03%, so at the same rate Tampa's would be about $171 above Raleigh's, and both are before flood cover. The labor market is Raleigh's: on the same unadjusted basis metro unemployment was 3.2% in Raleigh-Cary in July 2026 and 4.7% in Tampa Bay in June, and Raleigh's jobs grew 2.1% on the year against 0.9%. Tampa reports the lower crime, about 375.5 violent offenses per 100,000 and 17 homicides in 2025 against 396 and 25, on counts built differently. Choose Tampa for a 16.7 C January, no state income tax and Tampa General. Choose Raleigh for the job market, Medicaid expansion and a house outside any storm surge zone.
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| City population | 413,554 (2025) | 506,306 (2025) | Not directly comparable |
| Metro population | 3,418,895 (2025) | 1,595,720 (2025) | Not directly comparable |
| Five-year growth Growth is pressure on rents and roads as much as it is opportunity, so it is reported without a winner. | 7.3% (2020-2025) | 8.2% (2020-2025) | Not directly comparable |
What a home costs in each
The figures the two cities' rent-versus-buy and mortgage calculators run on, read from the same tables.
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark home price MLS® HPI or equivalent benchmark. Lower is treated as the advantage, which is the buyer's view rather than the owner's. | $380,283 (June 2026) | $428,671 (August 2026) | Tampa |
| Detached house benchmark Tampa publishes a single house index rather than a composite, so the two rows repeat. | $380,283 | $440,555 | Tampa |
| Apartment or condominium benchmark | Not published | $270,056 | Not directly comparable |
| Two-bedroom rent | $1,999/mo (median, June 2026) | $1,655/mo (average, August 2026) | Raleigh |
| One-bedroom rent | $1,719/mo | $1,409/mo | Raleigh |
| Two-bedroom rent against median income A year of two-bedroom rent as a share of the median household income below. A household paying the median rent out of the median income is a fiction, but it is the same fiction in both columns and it crosses currencies. | 28.5% of a year's income | 23.3% of a year's income | Raleigh |
| Mortgage payment on the benchmark, 20% down 30-year amortization on American monthly compounding, the convention in both. | $1,957/mo at 6.67% | $2,288/mo at 7.03% | Tampa |
| Price to household income Benchmark price divided by the median household income below. A ratio is comparable across currencies; the dollars are not. | 4.5× | 5.0× | Tampa |
| Property tax on the benchmark home The effective rate on market value, which is what the two rates have in common and what the Advantage column is decided on; the bills are in each city's own dollars. | $6,712/yr (1.765%, 2025) | $3,717/yr (0.867%, 2026) | Raleigh |
| Transfer tax on the benchmark home Compared as a share of the price. Where the seller pays it, it is a cost of leaving rather than arriving. | $2,662 (seller pays) | $857 (seller pays) | Raleigh |
| Rent control A cap protects a sitting tenant and does nothing for the next lease, so neither column is simply better. | Forbidden by state law | Forbidden by state law | Not directly comparable |
Tampa: About 1.77% of what you pay for the house, which is lower than the 19.8428 mills Tampa is charged, and the difference is Florida's homestead exemption rather than any assessment lag. The state assesses at full market value and a purchase resets the assessment to the price. What there is instead is an exemption: $25,000 of taxable value comes off for every taxing authority and a second slice comes off for all of them except the Hillsborough County school board, which levies 6.3400 of the 19.8428. That second slice was $25,000 through the 2024 tax roll and has been adjusted for inflation every 1 January since, under the 2024 amendment to Article VII section 6 of the state constitution, so it is now somewhat more than $25,000. The figures here use the base amount, because the Department of Revenue sends the adjusted figure to the county property appraisers rather than publishing it. The difference is worth a few dollars a year on a bill, and the county property appraiser can tell you the amount in force. A homesteaded buyer's first-year bill is therefore about $6,712 on the $380,283 typical home value here. That 19.8428 is the figure Hillsborough County publishes for this taxing district rather than a total assembled here, and Tampa's own council sets 6.2076 of it. The exemption is not automatic: you file for it with the county property appraiser by 1 March of the year after you buy. The seller's tax bill is not a guide to yours. Save Our Homes caps a homesteaded property's assessed value at 3% growth a year, and that cap resets to full market value the January after the sale, so a long-tenured owner can be taxed on a fraction of what you will be taxed on for the same house. Ask the property appraiser what the assessment would be at your purchase price, not what the current bill is. Raleigh: About 0.87% of market value. Raleigh levies 90.91 cents per $100 for fiscal 2027, Wake County's 53.71 cents plus the City's 37.20 cents, against values set at the 1 January 2024 revaluation. North Carolina measures the gap itself: the Department of Revenue puts Wake's assessment level at 95.39% of sale price, which is how it publishes an effective county rate of 0.4933% against a nominal 0.5171%. Wake revalues again on 1 January 2027 and every two years after that, so the next bill resets to what houses are worth then. Inside the downtown municipal service district the bill carries a further 6.8 cents per $100.
How safe each city is, by the numbers it publishes
Police-reported figures for the most recent year each force or statistics agency has released. Rates describe a whole city or metro area, and the spread between neighbourhoods inside one city is usually wider than the gap between the two cities.
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Severity Index Statistics Canada's weighted index for the metropolitan area, where 100 is Canada in 2006. American cities have no equivalent series. | Not published | Not published | Not directly comparable |
| Violent crime per 100,000 | 376 (2025) | 396 (2025) | Tampa |
| Property crime per 100,000 | 1,465 (2024) | 2,316 (2025) | Tampa |
| Homicides Counts, not rates, and a single year in a small city moves a long way on chance alone. What each figure covers is under the table. | 17 (2025) | 25 (2025) | Not directly comparable |
Violent crime in the city fell from 2,031 offences in 2023 to 1,862 in 2024 and 1,553 in 2025 (TPD 2025 Annual Report), with homicides halving in 2025 to 17. Total crime fell 21.3% in 2025 and TPD reported a 22% mid-year drop the year before, so the direction over three years is clearly down, though the figures remain preliminary until certified under NIBRS.
What the rates cover: Computed: Tampa Police Department 2025 Annual Report counts 1,553 violent crimes (robbery, aggravated assault/battery, murder, sexual battery) in 2025, down from 1,862 in 2024 and 2,031 in 2023; divided by the 413,554 Vintage 2025 city population. FBI UCR-based 2024 figure for comparison: 1,817 offences, 445 per 100k. TPD notes Florida moved to NIBRS in 2022 and figures are preliminary until certified by FDLE and the FBI.
Homicides: City of Tampa, 2025: 17 homicides, a 52.8% drop from 36 in 2024 (FBI UCR 2024 count 36, 8.8 per 100k). Works out to about 4.1 per 100k in 2025. TPD calls it the lowest annual total in more than 50 years. One January 2026 FOX 13 report quoted 19; the 52.8% figure in TPD's annual report is consistent with 17.
On the FBI's definitions, violent offenses in Raleigh went from 2,573 in 2023 to 2,399 in 2024 and 2,007 in 2025, a 16% drop in the last year, and property offenses from 12,665 to 13,854 and then 11,725. RPD's own 2025 report shows motor vehicle thefts down 32% (2,444 to 1,664), thefts from vehicles down 27%, non-fatal shooting incidents down from 91 to 79 and aggravated assaults without a firearm down 12%, while its all-assault total was flat at 7,418 and murders held at 25 after 24. The 2025 CDE counts were read on 26 September 2026 from a feed last refreshed on 15 September and can still be revised.
What the rates cover: Computed: 2,007 violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in the FBI Crime Data Explorer's summarized data for the Raleigh Police Department (ORI NC0920100) in calendar 2025, divided by the 506,306 Vintage 2025 city population. On the CDE's own agency population of 508,719 the rate is 395. RPD's 2025 annual report does not publish a count on this definition: its total violent crime of 8,541 counts every assault, simple assaults included (7,418 in all), and lists no rapes, so it runs more than four times the FBI figure and measures something else.
Homicides: 25 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in 2025 in both RPD's annual report and the FBI CDE, against 24 in 2024, about 4.9 per 100,000 on the city population. RPD's wider count of homicide incidents, which adds one negligent manslaughter and two justifiable homicides, was 28. The high point in the CDE series since 2021 is 45, in 2022.
Winters, summers and what the weather can do to a house
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| January mean | 16.7 °C | 5.5 °C | Not directly comparable |
| July mean | 28.8 °C | 26.9 °C | Not directly comparable |
| Precipitation a year | 1,176 mm | 1,170 mm | Not directly comparable |
| Snowfall a year | 0 cm | 13 cm | Not directly comparable |
| Sunshine a year | Not published | 2,606 hours | Not directly comparable |
NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals, Tampa International Airport (USW00012842): January mean 62.0 F, July mean 83.8 F (August is the warmest month at 84.0 F), annual precipitation 46.30 in, annual snow normal 0. About 30 of those inches (762 mm) fall June through September. Sunshine hours are not part of the 1991-2020 normals product and were not verified.
Hazards: Hurricanes and storm surge are the defining hazard: Helene's surge in September 2024 flooded coastal Tampa Bay neighborhoods, then Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on October 9, 2024 as a Category 3, and 2024 alone generated 10,261 NFIP flood claims and about $1.1 billion in payouts in Hillsborough County. Flood insurance is effectively required in much of the city and has grown costlier under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0; summer heat indices above 100 F and daily lightning storms are routine from June to September.
NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for Raleigh-Durham International Airport (station USW00013722): January mean 41.9F, July mean 80.5F, annual mean 61.2F, 46.07 in of precipitation, 5.2 in of snow. July is the warmest month, ahead of August's 78.8F, with a mean high of 90.8F; January's mean low is 31.8F. Most of the snow falls in January (2.6 in) and February (1.4 in), and September (5.15 in) and July (5.02 in) are the wettest months. Converted here to 5.5 C, 26.9 C, 1,170 mm and 13.2 cm. Sunshine hours are the older 1961-1990 NCDC means (2,606 hours, 58% of possible), since the 1991-2020 normals do not include sunshine.
Hazards: Humid subtropical, with long hot summers and thunderstorms, and winters mild enough that snow is an event. The record storm, on 24 to 25 January 2000, left 20.3 in (52 cm) at the airport, 17.9 in of it in 24 hours, beating a 1927 record of 17.8 in. Hurricanes reach Raleigh weakened but not harmless: Fran in September 1996 dropped 8.80 in (224 mm) of rain at RDU, uprooted trees across the region and did about $900 million of damage in Raleigh and Wake County, and the State Climate Office writes that no storm since has had so wide or lasting an impact on the Triangle. Flooding along the creeks after heavy rain and summer heat are the routine risks.
What people earn and what the government takes
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $84,114 USD (2024) | $85,060 USD (2024) | Raleigh |
| Unemployment rate | 4.7% (June 2026) | 3.1% (July 2026) | Raleigh |
| Sales tax | 7.5% | 7.25% | Raleigh |
| Top marginal income tax Federal plus provincial or state. The American figure leaves out payroll taxes and the cost of health insurance, both of which a Canadian household covers through the tax it pays here. | 37% | 41.25% | Tampa |
| Income tax on $100,000, single filer Computed from each jurisdiction's brackets at a single filer's $100,000 and rounded to the dollar, so a gap of a dollar is rounding rather than tax. Two cities in one province or state are shown as Even, because there the two cells describe the same tax and whatever separates them is method. | $13,449 USD | $17,157 USD | Tampa |
BLS counted 1,583,300 nonfarm jobs in the MSA in December 2025, up 0.9% over the year, with education and health services (+4.2%) and leisure and hospitality (+2.0%) leading and the May 2025 mean hourly wage of $31.96 sitting below the US average of $33.54. The largest industries by employment in the metro in 2024 were health care and social assistance, retail trade, and professional, scientific and technical services (Census ACS via Data USA).
Main sectors: Health care and social assistance, Finance, insurance and professional services, Retail and leisure/hospitality, Port, logistics and defense (Port Tampa Bay, MacDill AFB), Higher education and research (USF, Moffitt).
Florida has no state income tax, estate tax or inheritance tax. Property tax is the main local levy; homesteaded owners get a $50,000 exemption and the Save Our Homes 3% annual assessment cap, which means long-time owners pay much less than a new buyer of the same house.
BLS counted 784,100 nonfarm jobs in the Raleigh MSA in July 2026 (not seasonally adjusted), up 15,900 or 2.1% on the year. Construction grew fastest (+6.8%), then education and health (+4.7%), while information (-5.9%), manufacturing (-1.7%) and trade, transportation and utilities (-0.4%) shrank. Professional and business services is the largest sector at 156,200 jobs, and government, with the state capital and NC State inside it, employs 107,400. The seasonally adjusted series (FRED RALE537NA) reached 786,100 in August 2026, 2.5% above August 2025. Average weekly wages across Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties were $1,621 in the first quarter of 2026 against $1,654 nationally. The newest large employers are drug plants in Holly Springs: Fujifilm Diosynth plans 1,400 jobs there by 2031 after a $1.2 billion expansion announced in April 2024, and Amgen about 725 across two plants after a $1.02 billion second one announced in December 2024.
Main sectors: Professional and business services, the metro's largest sector, Government (the state capital, NC State University, the county school system), Education and health care (WakeMed, UNC Health Rex, Duke Raleigh), Trade, transportation and utilities, Biomanufacturing and life sciences (Fujifilm and Amgen in Holly Springs, Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham).
North Carolina's flat rate has come down every year since 2022: 4.99% (2022), 4.75% (2023), 4.50% (2024), 4.25% (2025) and 3.99% for 2026 and later, with further cuts from 2027 only if revenue triggers are met. Property tax is separate, with Wake County and the City of Raleigh each levying a rate on assessed value.
Whether you need a car
| Measure | Tampa | Raleigh | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| System | HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit) buses, the TECO Line Streetcar between downtown and Ybor City, and HART's MetroRapid and on-demand HARTFlex services | GoRaleigh city buses (38 fixed routes), GoTriangle regional buses to Durham, Chapel Hill, Research Triangle Park and RDU, and Amtrak's Piedmont, Carolinian and Floridian at Raleigh Union Station; no rail transit inside the city | Not directly comparable |
| Commute by public transit | 1.2% (2024) | 1.7% (2024) | Raleigh |
| Walk or cycle to work | 3.4% (2024) | 1.5% (2024) | Tampa |
| Airport | Tampa International Airport (TPA), 24,811,007 passengers in calendar 2025 (+0.22% on 2024), 27th busiest US airport, 635 daily flights, Southwest the largest carrier at 24% (TPA Fact Sheet, June 2026). | Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), 15.6 million passengers in 2025, a record just above 2024's 15.5 million, per the Airport Authority. It sits between Raleigh and Durham, and a $1.1 billion replacement primary runway, 10,639 ft long, has been under construction since October 2023. | Not directly comparable |
HART carried about 11.94 million unlinked trips in 2025 (APTA Transit Ridership Report, Q4 2025). The 2.7-mile TECO Line Streetcar, fare-free since 2018, carried 1,323,715 riders in 2024, its record year.
GoRaleigh carried 7,991,200 unlinked trips in 2025 and about 25,300 a weekday in the second quarter of 2026 (APTA ridership reports, as cited by Wikipedia). Fares came back on August 1, 2024, at $1.25 a ride after the pandemic fare-free years, and riders 65 and over or 18 and under still ride free once enrolled. The half-cent Wake Transit sales tax pays for the expansion. Its first bus rapid transit line, on New Bern Avenue east of downtown, has two of three construction phases under way, and the city expects the corridor finished by the end of 2028, with lines south to Garner, west to Cary and north to North Hills planned after it. Commuter rail between Durham and Clayton, the rail half of the same plan, met what GoTriangle calls significant feasibility challenges, and the two regional planning bodies are now studying smaller, incremental passenger rail options instead. Intercity rail is moving faster: NCDOT holds a $1.09 billion federal grant (December 2023) for the Raleigh to Wake Forest segment of the S-Line to Richmond, with bridges replacing road crossings under construction in 2026, and Amtrak counted 289,230 passengers at Raleigh Union Station in fiscal 2025.
Health care, schools and what each city is like
Health care
Care is paid for through employer plans, ACA marketplace plans, Medicare and Medicaid; Florida has not expanded Medicaid, so low-income adults without children often fall into the coverage gap, and out-of-pocket costs depend entirely on the plan. Tampa General Hospital (the USF Health teaching hospital, ranked the top hospital in the Tampa Bay region by U.S. News for 11 straight years through 2026-2027, with OB-GYN ranked fifth nationally in 2025-2026), Moffitt Cancer Center (an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center), AdventHealth Tampa, St. Joseph's and the James A. Haley VA are the major hospitals; specialist waits are usually weeks rather than months but vary by insurer network.
Education
The University of South Florida (about 48,700 students across Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee in 2025-26, an AAU member since 2023) and the private University of Tampa anchor higher education, with Hillsborough Community College for two-year programs. Schools are run by a single county district, Hillsborough County Public Schools, the seventh-largest in the US, whose 40-day enrollment fell 3.9% to 213,513 in 2025-26 as families took state vouchers and charters; it runs 42 magnet schools (about 17,500 students in 2024-25) with admission by lottery, so the school you get depends as much on the choice application as on the address.
Living there
Tampa is a flat, hot, car-first city where a 26-minute average commute hides the reality that I-275 and the Howard Frankland Bridge back up daily and transit carries about one commuter in a hundred. The walkable parts are concentrated: the Riverwalk, Hyde Park, Seminole Heights and Ybor City, with the streetcar linking downtown to Ybor for free. Flood zone and elevation now matter as much as school zone when picking a house, after Helene's surge in 2024 showed which streets go under; summers mean afternoon lightning storms and heat indices over 100 F from June into September.
Health care
Care is paid for through employer or individual private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and North Carolina expanded Medicaid on December 1, 2023; about 740,000 people are covered by the expansion. Federal changes narrow it: non-citizen eligibility rules tighten from October 1, 2026, and from January 1, 2027 most expansion adults face a work requirement of 80 hours a month (or equivalent earnings) and renewals every six months. Three systems run Raleigh's hospitals. WakeMed's Raleigh Campus is a Level I trauma center, with a Level III center at WakeMed Cary, and WakeMed describes itself as Wake County's only provider of trauma services. UNC Health Rex, founded in 1894, is the UNC Health hospital in the city, and Duke Raleigh Hospital has 204 inpatient beds for cancer, heart, neuroscience and gastrointestinal care. The academic medical centers of Duke in Durham and UNC in Chapel Hill are inside the same region. This file did not verify a wait time figure for primary or specialist care.
Education
The Wake County Public School System is one county-wide district and enrolled 160,413 students in 2025-26, 702 fewer than the year before; it projects 161,461 across 204 schools for 2026-27. More than a quarter of the county's students now attend charter or private schools or are home-schooled, according to the News & Observer. Every address has a base school, and families can also apply to magnet and year-round calendar schools. NC State University enrolled 40,503 students in fall 2025 (30,504 undergraduate, 9,999 graduate) and is the city's research university; Meredith College, William Peace University, Shaw University and Wake Technical Community College are also in Raleigh, and Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill are in Durham and Chapel Hill. Saint Augustine's University, a historically Black university in the city, filed for Chapter 11 in April 2026 after a long fight over its accreditation and is offering no classes in fall 2026.
Living there
Raleigh is a state capital and a university town at the center of a metro of 1.6 million, and most of it lives like a ring of suburbs around a compact downtown. Two workers in three drive to work alone, fewer than one in fifty rides a bus, and more than one in five works from home. The city's greenways run for more than 100 miles along its creeks and the Neuse River, yet walking and cycling together carry 1.5% of commutes. Work is spread across the Triangle rather than gathered in the city: state government and NC State in the city, Research Triangle Park between Raleigh and Durham, drug plants in Holly Springs, and Durham and Chapel Hill close enough to share the airport. Summers are long, hot and humid, with a July mean of 80.5F, and winters are mild. The open question is whether the region can build the transit its growth now calls for. The half-cent tax Wake voters approved in 2016 is paying for more buses and a first bus rapid transit line on New Bern Avenue, due by the end of 2028, but the commuter rail at the center of that plan is back at the study stage, so for now living here without a car depends on choosing exactly where to live.
Where each city wins, and where it loses
Both cities price in US dollars, so the figures net directly. Tampa's typical home value was $380,283 in June 2026 and Raleigh's $428,671 in August, both on Zillow's index of all homes and down 2.1% and 1.7% on the year. That is 4.5 times the City of Tampa's 2024 median household income of $84,114 and 5.0 times Raleigh's $85,060. At 20% down, Tampa's $304,226 loan at 6.67%, Freddie Mac's August 2026 rate, costs $1,957 a month, and Raleigh's $342,937 loan at 7.03%, the rate for 24 September, about $2,288. Florida then takes most of the saving back. A homesteaded Tampa buyer's first-year property tax is about $6,712, 1.77% of the price, against about $3,717 in Raleigh, 0.867%, and insurance is budgeted at $390 a month against $210. On the three lines the Tampa owner carries about $2,906 and the Raleigh owner about $2,808; at Raleigh's 7.03%, Tampa's total would be about $2,979. Neither insurance figure includes flood, which in much of Tampa is effectively required. A median two-bedroom rented for $1,999 in Tampa in June 2026 against an average $1,655 in Raleigh in August, and condominium fees are estimated at $700 against $350. Neither state permits rent control.
Tampa's reported figures are lower, and the two sets are assembled differently enough to be held loosely. Tampa Police counted 1,553 violent crimes in 2025, about 375.5 per 100,000 on the city's 413,554 residents, a department count on its own categories that stays preliminary until certified under NIBRS; the FBI's 2024 file gave Tampa 445 per 100,000 on its own count of 1,817. Raleigh's 2,007 violent offenses are the FBI's count for 2025, 396 per 100,000. Homicide is the cleaner line: 17 in Tampa in 2025, about 4.1 per 100,000, down 52.8% from 36 and the lowest in more than 50 years, against 25 in Raleigh, about 4.9, after 24. Property crime cannot be matched by year. Tampa's newest count is the FBI's for 2024, 5,988 offenses or 1,465 per 100,000, and the department reported total crime down a further 21.3% in 2025; Raleigh's rate was 2,316 in 2025 and higher in 2024, so Tampa's is lower on either year. Both cities' violent counts have fallen every year since 2023. Every rate here is a count divided by a Census estimate, and the Raleigh counts, read on 26 September 2026, can still be revised.
Tampa is warmer all year, and the two get almost the same rain. January averages 16.7 C at Tampa International against 5.5 C at Raleigh-Durham International, and July 28.8 C against 26.9 C, with August Tampa's warmest month. Rainfall is 1,176 mm against 1,170, but about 30 inches of Tampa's fall between June and September in afternoon lightning storms, with heat indices above 100 F routine. Tampa gets no snow and Raleigh 13.2 cm in a normal year. Tampa's sunshine is not in the current normals, so no comparison is offered. The hazard that separates them is storm surge. Helene put the largest surge on record into Tampa Bay in September 2024, over six feet in St. Petersburg, and Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 two weeks later; Hillsborough County generated 10,261 flood insurance claims and about $1.1 billion in payouts that year. Raleigh's hurricanes arrive inland and weakened, though Fran in September 1996 did about $900 million of damage in Raleigh and Wake County, and creek flooding and summer heat are its routine risks. An owner's utility premium over a renter is budgeted at $150 a month in Tampa and $130 in Raleigh, mostly cooling in both.
Raleigh has the stronger labor market. On the same unadjusted basis, unemployment was 3.2% in Raleigh-Cary in July 2026 and 4.7% in Tampa Bay in June, where it was up 0.7 points on the year; Raleigh's seasonally adjusted rate was 3.1%. Raleigh-Cary's 784,100 nonfarm jobs grew 2.1% in the year to July 2026, and Tampa Bay's 1,583,300 grew 0.9% in the year to December 2025. Tampa's work leans on health care, finance and insurance, retail and hospitality, Port Tampa Bay and MacDill Air Force Base, USF and Moffitt; Raleigh's on professional and business services at 156,200 and government at 107,400, with Research Triangle Park and the Holly Springs drug plants beyond the city. Pay trails the nation in both: Tampa's mean hourly wage was $31.96 in May 2025 against $33.54, and Raleigh's average weekly wage $1,621 in the first quarter of 2026 against $1,654. City median household incomes were level in 2024, $84,114 and $85,060, but the metros part, $78,275 against $102,144. Tax is Tampa's. A single filer on $100,000 pays about $13,449, all of it federal, against $17,157 in Raleigh for 2025, a $3,708 gap that narrows to about $3,481 in 2026. Sales tax is 7.5% in Hillsborough against 7.25% in Wake.
A car is assumed in both, and neither has rail transit to speak of. In 2024, 1.2% of City of Tampa workers took transit and 3.4% walked or cycled, on a mean commute of 26.1 minutes that hides daily backups on I-275 and the Howard Frankland Bridge; in Raleigh the shares were 1.7% and 1.5%, with 66.3% driving alone. HART carried about 11.94 million trips in 2025 across Hillsborough County, and the fare-free TECO Line Streetcar, 2.7 miles from downtown to Ybor City, had a record 1,323,715 riders in 2024. GoRaleigh carried 7,991,200 trips in 2025, all by bus. Raleigh's difference is what it is building. Wake County's half-cent transit sales tax, collected since 2017, is paying for a first bus rapid transit line on New Bern Avenue, due by the end of 2028, with lines to Garner, Cary and North Hills planned after it, though the commuter rail in the same plan is back at the study stage. Flying favors Tampa: Tampa International handled 24,811,007 passengers in 2025 on 635 daily flights, with Southwest the largest carrier, against a record 15.6 million at RDU, an airport Raleigh shares with Durham and Chapel Hill.
Medicaid is the state line that matters. North Carolina expanded it on 1 December 2023, though from 1 January 2027 most expansion adults face a work requirement of 80 hours a month; Florida has not, so low-income adults without children in Tampa often fall into the coverage gap. Tampa's hospitals are a strength: Tampa General, the USF Health teaching hospital, has been ranked the top hospital in the Tampa Bay region by U.S. News for 11 straight years through 2026-2027, and Moffitt is an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, alongside AdventHealth Tampa, St. Joseph's and the James A. Haley VA. Raleigh's are WakeMed, whose Raleigh campus is a Level I trauma center, UNC Health Rex and Duke Raleigh, with the academic medical centers of Duke and UNC in the same region. Tampa's profile puts specialist waits in weeks; Raleigh's verified none. Hillsborough County Public Schools enrolled 213,513 in 2025-26, down 3.9% as families took vouchers and charters, and admits to its 42 magnets by lottery. The Wake County Public School System enrolled 160,413, every address has a base school, and families can apply to magnets. USF has about 48,700 students across three campuses and joined the AAU in 2023; NC State enrolled 40,503 in fall 2025.
What people underestimate is that on money the two nearly net out, and flood is the line that decides it. Tampa's three-line carry runs about $1,176 a year above Raleigh's, while a single filer on $100,000 keeps about $3,708 more in Tampa for 2025, so on the figures here Tampa comes out about $2,500 a year ahead, or about $1,650 with both mortgages at 7.03%. Neither carry includes flood insurance, and in Tampa that is the policy that paid for 2024. This site prices the City of Tampa as a coastal address, $390 a month against $250 for an inland Tampa Bay one, but the ground inside the city limits runs from nine feet above the bay in the Channel District to forty-nine in Seminole Heights, and the elevation certificate is what prices flood cover. No Tampa flood premium is recorded here, so the only reliable figure is a quote on a specific address, and it can erase that lead. The tax bills also move differently after a purchase: Florida resets the assessment to the sale price and ends the seller's Save Our Homes cap, while Wake revalues every home on 1 January 2027.
Better here
- The typical home was $380,283 in June 2026, 4.5 times the city's 2024 median household income against 5.0 in Raleigh, and the mortgage at 20% down is $1,957 a month against about $2,288.
- Florida has no income tax: a single filer on $100,000 paid about $13,449 for 2025 against $17,157 in Raleigh, and the top combined marginal rate is 37% against 41.25%.
- Reported violent crime was about 375.5 per 100,000 in 2025 and homicides fell 52.8% to 17, against 396 and 25 in Raleigh.
- January averages 16.7 C with no snow on the 1991-2020 normals, against 5.5 C and 13.2 cm in Raleigh.
- Tampa General has been the region's top-ranked hospital for 11 straight years through 2026-2027, and Moffitt is an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center.
- Tampa International handled 24,811,007 passengers in 2025 on 635 daily flights, against RDU's 15.6 million.
Worse here
- A homesteaded buyer's first-year property tax is about $6,712, 1.77% of the price, against $3,717 and 0.867% in Raleigh.
- Insurance is budgeted at $390 a month against $210 and excludes flood; Hillsborough County generated 10,261 flood claims and about $1.1 billion in payouts in 2024.
- Metro unemployment was 4.7% in June 2026, up 0.7 points on the year, against 3.2% in Raleigh-Cary in July on the same unadjusted basis.
- Florida has not expanded Medicaid, where North Carolina did on 1 December 2023.
- Only 1.2% of workers commuted by transit in 2024, and I-275 and the Howard Frankland Bridge back up daily.
- A median two-bedroom rented for $1,999 in June 2026 against a $1,655 average in Raleigh in August, and condominium fees are estimated at $700 a month against $350.
Choose Tampa if
- you want a January at 16.7 C and the Gulf, and will buy on elevation and flood zone first
- you earn enough that no state income tax outweighs the higher property tax, insurance and flood cover
- you work in health care, insurance, the port or defense
- you want Tampa General and Moffitt inside the city you live in
The Tampa guide · Neighborhoods · Tampa rent vs buy · Tampa mortgage calculator
Better here
- Metro unemployment was 3.1% in July 2026, seasonally adjusted, and nonfarm jobs grew 2.1% on the year to 784,100, against 4.7% and 0.9% in Tampa Bay.
- Property tax is about $3,717 a year on the typical home for fiscal 2027 and insurance $210 a month, against $6,712 and $390 in Tampa.
- Metro median household income was $102,144 in 2024 against $78,275 across Tampa Bay.
- North Carolina expanded Medicaid on 1 December 2023, which Florida has not done.
- Hurricanes arrive inland and without surge, where Helene put the largest surge on record into Tampa Bay in September 2024.
- A two-bedroom averaged $1,655 in August 2026 against a $1,999 median in Tampa in June.
Worse here
- The 7.03% rate of 24 September 2026 puts the mortgage at about $2,288 a month against Tampa's $1,957, on a typical home $48,388 dearer.
- North Carolina's income tax took about $3,708 from a single filer on $100,000 in 2025, which Florida does not charge.
- January averages 5.5 C with 13.2 cm of snow a year, against 16.7 C and none in Tampa.
- There were 25 homicides in 2025, about 4.9 per 100,000, against 17 and about 4.1 in Tampa.
- GoRaleigh carried 7,991,200 trips in 2025, all by bus, and the first bus rapid transit line is due by the end of 2028.
- RDU handled 15.6 million passengers in 2025 against 24,811,007 at Tampa International.
Choose Raleigh if
- you want a labor market at 3.1% unemployment in state government, universities, life sciences or professional services
- you may need Medicaid, or work in a job with thin health coverage
- you want a house outside any storm surge zone and an insurance bill that is not priced by elevation
- you would take a 5.5 C January and 13.2 cm of snow over a hurricane season on the coast
The Raleigh guide · Neighborhoods · Raleigh rent vs buy · Raleigh mortgage calculator
Tampa or Raleigh, in short
Is Tampa or Raleigh cheaper to live in?
They are close, and which one wins depends on flood cover and income tax. Both cities price in US dollars, so the figures net directly. Tampa's typical home was $380,283 in June 2026 against Raleigh's $428,671 in August, and the mortgage at 20% down is $1,957 against about $2,288, though Tampa's uses August's 6.67% rate and Raleigh's September's 7.03%. Property tax is about $6,712 a year against $3,717 and insurance $390 a month against $210, so the three lines come to about $2,906 in Tampa and $2,808 in Raleigh. A single filer on $100,000 saves about $3,708 a year in state income tax in Tampa, which puts Tampa ahead until a flood policy is priced. Renting favors Raleigh: a two-bedroom averaged $1,655 there in August 2026 against a $1,999 median in Tampa.
Is Tampa or Raleigh safer?
Tampa, on the figures each city reports, which are not built the same way. Tampa Police counted 1,553 violent crimes in 2025, about 375.5 per 100,000, and 17 homicides, about 4.1 per 100,000 and the fewest in more than 50 years; Raleigh's FBI counts give 396 violent offenses per 100,000 and 25 homicides, about 4.9. Tampa's newest property figure is for 2024, 1,465 per 100,000, against Raleigh's 2,316 in 2025. Tampa's counts are preliminary until certified under NIBRS, the FBI's own 2024 file put Tampa's violent rate at 445, and the Raleigh counts, read on 26 September 2026, can still be revised. Both cities' violent counts have fallen every year since 2023.
Which has the better climate, Tampa or Raleigh?
Tampa if you want no winter, Raleigh if you want no surge. January averages 16.7 C in Tampa and 5.5 C in Raleigh, where 13.2 cm of snow falls in a normal year and Tampa gets none. July is 28.8 C against 26.9 C, humid in both, and the rain totals are nearly identical, 1,176 mm against 1,170, though about 30 inches of Tampa's fall in summer lightning storms. The hazards differ in kind. Helene's surge flooded coastal Tampa Bay in September 2024 and Milton followed as a Category 3, while Raleigh's hurricanes arrive inland and weakened, though Fran did about $900 million of damage in Raleigh and Wake County in 1996.
How much does flood risk change the comparison?
Enough to decide it for a Tampa buyer on low ground. Neither city's insurance figure includes flood, and in Tampa flood is effectively required in much of the city: Hillsborough County generated 10,261 flood insurance claims and about $1.1 billion in payouts in 2024. This site prices the City of Tampa as coastal, $390 a month for homeowners insurance against $250 for an inland Tampa Bay address, but elevation inside the city runs from nine feet in the Channel District to forty-nine in Seminole Heights, and the elevation certificate is what prices the flood policy. No Tampa flood premium is recorded here, so get a quote on the address before comparing. Raleigh's flood risk is its creeks after heavy rain, not surge.
Where the figures come from
Housing figures are the ones behind each city's calculators, dated on those pages. The rest are listed here with the date they were retrieved. See the methodology for how facts, estimates and opinion are kept apart.
- Tampa, FL Population (2025), citing US Census Bureau PEP Vintage 2025 · Every City in the USA (compiling US Census Bureau) · retrieved Supports: City population, Five-year growth
- Resident Population in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (MSA), TMAPOP · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (US Census Bureau data) · retrieved Supports: Metro population, Five-year growth
- Florida Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 2025 Estimate · Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research · retrieved Supports: Metro population
- Tampa Police Department Annual Report 2025: Strength in Partnerships · City of Tampa · retrieved Supports: Violent crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Property crime rate
- Tampa crime drops in 2025, outpacing national trend: TPD · FOX 13 Tampa Bay · retrieved Supports: Crime trend
- Tampa police sees drop in homicides, violent crime for 2025 · WTSP 10 Tampa Bay · retrieved Supports: Homicides
- Tampa, St. Pete homicides, other crimes drop to lowest level in 50+ years · FOX 13 Tampa Bay · retrieved Supports: Homicides
- Tampa Police Release Mid-Year Crime Stats Showing Significant Reductions · City of Tampa · retrieved Supports: Crime trend
- Tampa, FL Crime Rates: Stats & Map (FBI UCR 2024 data) · AreaVibes · retrieved Supports: Property crime rate, Homicides, Violent crime rate
- US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00012842 Tampa International Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Annual snowfall
- Milton misses worst-case scenario, devastates Florida · Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- Flooding the zone · UF Warrington College of Business · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- FEMA Exercises Borrowing Authority for National Flood Insurance Program · FEMA · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- Tampa, FL profile, ACS 2024 1-year · Census Reporter (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved Supports: Median household income, Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share
- ACS 2024 1-year tables B08301 and B19013 for Tampa city and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved Supports: Median household income, Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share
- Unemployment Rate in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (MSA), TAMP312URN · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (BLS LAUS data) · retrieved Supports: Unemployment rate
- What is the unemployment rate in the Tampa, FL area right now? · USAFacts (BLS data) · retrieved Supports: Unemployment rate
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL: Southeast Information Office · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved Supports: Labour market
- Occupational Employment and Wages in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, May 2025 · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved Supports: Labour market
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL · Data USA (Census ACS) · retrieved Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
- TIP 25A01-12: Hillsborough County Surtax Rate Update · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: Sales tax
- 2025 Tax Brackets · Tax Foundation · retrieved Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
- Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (citing APTA Transit Ridership Report Q4 2025) · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership
- TECO Line Streetcar · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership
- TPA Fact Sheet: Activity Report, Calendar Year 2025 · Tampa International Airport / Hillsborough County Aviation Authority · retrieved Supports: Airport passengers
- Tampa General Is the Top-Ranked Hospital in the Tampa Bay Region for the 11th Year in a Row, According to U.S. News & World Report · Tampa General Hospital via PR Newswire · retrieved Supports: Health care
- Tampa General again named the top hospital in Tampa Bay; OB-GYN rises to No. 5 in the U.S. · USF Health · retrieved Supports: Health care
- State University System of Florida 2025-2026 Matrix · Florida Board of Governors · retrieved Supports: Education
- HCPS data shows total county enrollment has declined since last year · Plant City Observer · retrieved Supports: Education
- 2024 Annual Report, Growth Management · Hillsborough County Public Schools · retrieved Supports: Education
- Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in North Carolina: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (SUB-EST2025) · US Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: City population, Five-year growth, Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides
- Annual Resident Population Estimates and Components of Change for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Their Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (CBSA-EST2025-ALLDATA) · US Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: Metro population, Five-year growth
- Annual Resident Population Estimates for Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (CSA-EST2025-ALLDATA) · US Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: Metro population
- Crime Data Explorer summarized agency data, Raleigh Police Department (NC0920100): violent crime, property crime and homicide, 2021-2025 · FBI · retrieved Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend
- 2025 Annual Crime Data · Raleigh Police Department · retrieved Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend
- Raleigh's Crime Data · City of Raleigh · retrieved Supports: Crime trend
- US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00013722 Raleigh-Durham International Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Annual snowfall, Climate normals, January 41.9F, July 80.5F and August 78.8F from the monthly series, and annual mean 61.2F, precipitation 46.07 in and snowfall 5.2 in from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020 for the same station
- Average Annual Sunshine in US Cities · Current Results (NCDC Comparative Climatic Data, 1961-1990) · retrieved Supports: Sunshine hours
- Raleigh's Record Snow Surprised Everyone in January 2000 · North Carolina State Climate Office · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- Then and Now, Fran a Standard-Bearer for Hurricane Destruction · North Carolina State Climate Office · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- Hurricane Fran, September 1996 · National Weather Service, Raleigh · retrieved Supports: Climate hazards
- ACS 2024 1-year tables B08301 and B19013 for Raleigh city and the Raleigh-Cary MSA · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved Supports: Median household income, Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share, Character
- Unemployment Rate in Raleigh-Cary, NC (MSA), RALE537UR and RALE537URN · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (BLS LAUS data) · retrieved Supports: Unemployment rate
- All Employees: Total Nonfarm in Raleigh-Cary, NC (MSA), RALE537NA · FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (BLS CES data) · retrieved Supports: Labour market
- Raleigh, NC, Area Economic Summary · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved Supports: Unemployment rate, Main sectors, Labour market
- FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Expanding Manufacturing Operations in Holly Springs · Wake County Government · retrieved Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
- Amgen to add 370 jobs as part of $1B investment in Holly Springs, NC, officials say · WRAL · retrieved Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
- Current Sales and Use Tax Rates (effective July 1, 2026) · North Carolina Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: Sales tax
- Investment in Wake County Transit System Begins · Research Triangle Park · retrieved Supports: Sales tax, Transit ridership
- Prepared Food & Beverage Tax · Wake County Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: Sales tax
- Tax Rate Schedules · North Carolina Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000, Tax notes
- North Carolina Standard Deduction or North Carolina Itemized Deductions · North Carolina Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: Income tax on $100,000
- 2025 D-401 North Carolina Individual Income Tax Instructions · North Carolina Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: Income tax on $100,000
- 2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates · Tax Foundation · retrieved Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
- GoRaleigh (citing the APTA Transit Ridership Reports, Q4 2025 and Q2 2026) · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership
- GoRaleigh Resumes Fare Collection · GoRaleigh · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership
- Raleigh City Council Awards Second Construction Contract for Wake BRT: New Bern Avenue · City of Raleigh · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership, Character
- Wake BRT: New Bern Avenue · City of Raleigh · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership
- Commuter Rail · GoTriangle · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership, Character
- Construction Advances on S-Line Rail Corridor in Wake County · North Carolina Department of Transportation · retrieved Supports: Transit ridership
- Raleigh Union Station (citing Amtrak fiscal 2025 station ridership) · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership
- Just in: RDU Airport welcomed 15.6 million total passengers in 2025, up slightly from the previous year · Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority (RDU Airport on X) · retrieved Supports: Airport passengers
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport (2025 and 2024 passenger totals) · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Airport passengers
- Big Runway, Big Numbers, Big Progress · Raleigh-Durham International Airport · retrieved Supports: Airport passengers
- NCDHHS Launches the Know What's Next Toolkit on Medicaid Changes Starting Oct. 1, 2026 · North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services · retrieved Supports: Health care
- Trauma Centers · WakeMed Health & Hospitals · retrieved Supports: Health care
- About Duke Raleigh · Duke Health · retrieved Supports: Health care
- UNC Rex Healthcare · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Health care
- Wake's student enrollment has dropped overall, but pockets of growth remain · The News & Observer (via Yahoo News) · retrieved Supports: Education
- Stats and Facts · Wake County Public School System · retrieved Supports: Education
- Base Schools · Wake County Public School System · retrieved Supports: Education
- About Us (fall 2025 headcount enrollment) · North Carolina State University Catalog · retrieved Supports: Education
- Bankrupt Saint Augustine's Will Not Offer Fall Classes · Inside Higher Ed · retrieved Supports: Education
- Saint Augustine's University (North Carolina) · Wikipedia · retrieved Supports: Education
- Trails · City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources · retrieved Supports: Character
- Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), all homes, mid-tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted: city file, June 2026 · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical home value for each municipality, computed on one method across all twenty-four, The same series and month the Charlotte, Orlando, Palm Beach and Miami pages use, Year-over-year change to June 2026, which is negative in twenty-three of the twenty-four
- Final 2025 millage rates by taxing district · Hillsborough County Property Appraiser · retrieved Supports: Published totals of 19.8428 for Tampa, 19.5319 for Temple Terrace, 18.2926 for Plant City and 18.2515 for the unincorporated county, Every component behind them, including the 0.5583 library services levy Temple Terrace and Plant City are outside and the 0.5000 transit authority levy Plant City is outside, A county General Purpose MSTU of 4.6163 paid in the unincorporated area in place of a municipal rate
- Millage rates levied for 2025 taxes · Pinellas County Tax Collector · retrieved Supports: A published real estate total for every taxing district in Pinellas County, from Redington Shores at 15.1568 to Belleair at 20.4449, including St Petersburg at 19.9197 and Belleair Beach at 15.4466, Countywide components: general fund 4.5423, health department 0.0713, emergency medical services 0.8050 and school 6.2930, Other districts totalling 1.0256: planning council 0.0175, Juvenile Welfare Board 0.8250 and the Southwest Florida Water Management District 0.1831, The Transit District at 0.7300 and which districts are inside it, and the Pinellas Suncoast Fire District at 0.6700 and which are inside that
- Table 1: Comparison of Taxes Levied, county and municipal governments, fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 · Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight · retrieved Supports: Independent confirmation of each municipality's own adopted 2025-26 levy in both counties
- Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 2020 to 2024 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved Supports: 2020 census counts and 2024 estimates for each municipality, Tampa at 414,547 and St. Petersburg at 267,102; Indian Shores at 1,190
- Hurricane Helene storm surge and Pinellas County flooding, September 2024 · Latent Insurance, on National Weather Service and Pinellas County data · retrieved Supports: The largest storm surge on record for St. Petersburg, over six feet in the city and more than seven on the barrier islands, Thousands of Pinellas homes flooded, many of which had never flooded before, St. Petersburg single-family homeowners insurance of roughly $3,900 to $5,500 a year with wind coverage, and higher on the barrier islands
- Home insurance in Tampa, Florida: 2026 rates · InsuranceQuotes · retrieved Supports: Tampa homeowners insurance averaging about $2,400 a year in 2026, A Tampa Bay range of roughly $3,285 to $5,100 across Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco
- Primary Mortgage Market Survey · Freddie Mac · retrieved Supports: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.67%
- Documentary stamp tax · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: 70 cents per $100 on a deed, in every county except Miami-Dade, which charges 60 cents plus a 45-cent surtax, 35 cents per $100 on a promissory note or other written obligation to pay money
- Governmental leasehold intangible personal property tax and the non-recurring intangible tax on mortgages · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: A non-recurring intangible tax of 2 mills: 0.2%, on the obligation secured by a mortgage on Florida real property
- Property tax exemptions and additional benefits · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved Supports: A $25,000 homestead exemption applying to all taxing authorities and a second slice, $25,000 in the 2024 base year and adjusted for inflation each 1 January since, applying to all but the school district, The Save Our Homes assessment limitation of 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, Portability of up to $500,000 of accrued Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead, The 1 March filing deadline
- Chapter 2023-17, Laws of Florida: preemption of rent control · The Florida Senate · retrieved Supports: The repeal of the referendum exception that had allowed a local rent control ordinance in a declared housing emergency
- Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical home value of $428,671 for the city of Raleigh in August 2026, $436,286 in August 2025, so a fall of 1.7% over the year
- Zillow Home Value Index, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical single-family value of $440,555 in the city of Raleigh in August 2026, down 1.5% on the year, A typical condominium value of $270,056 in the same month, down 8.0% on the year, from the condominium file at https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/City_zhvi_uc_condo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv
- Raleigh, NC average rent and rent trends · RentCafe / Yardi Matrix · retrieved Supports: An average Raleigh apartment rent of $1,588, down 1.61% from $1,613 a year earlier, updated 31 August 2026, Average rents of $1,322 studio, $1,409 one-bedroom, $1,655 two-bedroom and $2,028 three-bedroom
- Wake County tax rates, current to 2017 · Wake County Department of Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: A Wake County rate of 53.71 cents per $100 for 2026, against 51.71 cents in 2025, A City of Raleigh rate of 37.20 cents per $100 for 2026, against 35.50 cents in 2025, A Raleigh downtown municipal service district rate of 6.8 cents per $100, levied only inside the district, 2024 marked as a revaluation year
- Sales assessment ratio studies as of January 1, 2025 · North Carolina Department of Revenue, Local Government Division · retrieved Supports: Wake County last revalued in 2024, A median sales assessment ratio of 95.39% for Wake: assessed values are 95.39% of sale prices, An effective county tax rate of 0.4933% against a nominal 0.5171%, computed as rate times assessment level, A coefficient of dispersion of 8.64 for Wake, Wake's next reappraisal scheduled for 2027
- Zillow Observed Rent Index, all homes plus multifamily, smoothed, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: An observed rent index of $1,577 for the city of Raleigh in August 2026, up 0.45% from $1,570 a year earlier
- Wake County commissioners adopt $2.28 billion fiscal year 2027 budget · Wake County · retrieved Supports: The county property tax rate rises 2 cents to 53.71 cents per $100 for FY2027, adopted 1 June 2026
- Raleigh leaders approve budget with property tax increase · WRAL · retrieved Supports: The City of Raleigh's FY2027 budget raises the property tax rate by 1.7 cents per $100
- Wake County shortens revaluation cycle · Wake County · retrieved Supports: The last revaluation took effect on 1 January 2024, The next revaluations take effect on 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2029, and every two years after that
- Commissioner Causey negotiates settlement on Rate Bureau's homeowners' insurance request · North Carolina Department of Insurance · retrieved Supports: Base rate increases of 7.5% on 1 June 2025 and 7.5% on 1 June 2026 in territory 270, the cities of Durham and Raleigh, against a Rate Bureau request of 39.8%, No further rate filing before 1 June 2027
- How much is homeowners insurance in Raleigh, NC? · Insure.com · retrieved Supports: An average Raleigh premium of $2,850 a year for $300,000 of dwelling cover, $100,000 of liability and a $1,000 deductible, updated 27 May 2026
- North Carolina homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Raleigh premium of $2,420 a year and a North Carolina average of $3,025, for $400,000 of dwelling cover
- Renters insurance in North Carolina · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Raleigh renters premium of $160 a year for $30,000 of personal property
- Monthly homeowners' or condominium association fee, table B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Raleigh city · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: A median monthly association fee of $114 among Raleigh owner-occupied units that pay one, 58,527 of 108,529 owner-occupied units, or 53.9%, paying such a fee, from table B25142
- Homebuyer assistance · City of Raleigh Housing and Neighborhoods · retrieved Supports: 0% deferred loans for first-time buyers at or below 80% of area median income, Up to $45,000 citywide on a home priced up to $389,500, and up to $60,000 in designated areas on a home up to $450,000
- Conforming loan limit values for 2026 · Federal Housing Finance Agency · retrieved Supports: A baseline one-unit conforming loan limit of $832,750 for 2026, which is the limit in Wake County
- Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 2020 to 2025 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved Supports: A population of 506,306 for Raleigh on 1 July 2025, against 467,665 at the 2020 census
- 2025 Gazetteer files: places, North Carolina · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: A land area of 152.263 square miles for Raleigh city, against 147.116 in the 2020 file