The best place to live? This county tops the list in North Carolina, new rankings show

North Carolina is brimming with places to love — but which is the best to call home?

Wake County, home to Raleigh, ranks No. 1 in the state on a list of counties offering top-notch educational, social and job opportunities for residents, according to results published Feb. 10.

To create the list, the data-driven website Stacker said it studied 2022 figures from Niche, which ranks schools and neighborhoods. Using information from the U.S. government and other sources, Niche considered how each county fared in several categories, including cost of living, schools, diversity, weather, health care, safety, activities, commute times and family-friendliness.

Stacker said the best counties in each state often have “a good mix of opportunities for fun outdoor activities and cultural attractions. Throw in some historical sites, good schools, job opportunities, and affordable housing, and the county will most likely have happy residents.”

Wake rose to the top of the list after it received A grades across most categories. Stacker also gave the county a nod for its entertainment options.

“The county is home to the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Marbles Kids Museum, the North Carolina Railway Museum, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences,” Stacker wrote. “It’s also home to North Carolina State University, making it one of the key cities in the state’s Research Triangle region.”

But Wake didn’t score as well in some categories.

On Niche, the county earned a B grade for weather and a B- for commute times and cost of living. The rankings come at a time when many in the Triangle have struggled to afford rent prices, The News & Observer reported.

Still, it might not come as a surprise that Wake earned a top spot on the list.

Within the county, the state capital of Raleigh has long been praised as a desirable destination. The city recently was named one of the nation’s best places for college students to live and a top location to raise a family, McClatchy News reported in November.

This time around, many of the other counties that landed high spots on Niche’s list were home to or near big cities. Rounding out the top five:

• Orange County at No. 2

• Mecklenburg County at No. 3

• Durham County at No. 4

• Union County at No. 5

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