RALEIGH – Raleigh is No. 3 among the 50 US state capitals, a new study says. Only Austin, Texas, and Madison, Wis., rank higher according to data compiled by financial information site WalletHub. It’s the latest in a series of reports and ratings that give the city high marks.

North Carolina’s capital ranked No. 3 in affordability, No. 7 in quality of education and health, No. 11 in quality of life, and No. 12 for economic well-being.

But the rankings are very close.

Austin – Raleigh’s rival for numerous economic development projects and recruiting of workforce talent – actually only topped the City of Oaks in two of the study’s five cateogires – economic well-being (No. 1) and quality of education and health (No. 5).

However, the study’s index score ranked Austin at 65.47 followed by Madison at 64.74 and Raleigh 64.08.

WalletHub compared capitals in: affordability, economic well-being, quality of education & health and quality of life. Forty-four specific data sets were studied, ranging from K–12 school-system quality to COVID-19 cases.

In specific sub categories, Austin and Raleigh again were very close:

  • Median household income: Austin No. 1, Raleigh No. 2.
  • Highest percentage of college degrees: Austin, No. 4, Raleigh No. 5.
  • Premature death rate: Austin No. 1, Raleigh No. 3.
  • Percentage of millennial newcomers: Austin No. 3. (Raleigh didn’t crack top 5)
  • Lowest crime rate: Raleigh No. 3 (Austin didn’t crack top 5)

Other recent ratings compiled by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Wake County Economic Development also bolster the city’s (and county’s) reputation:

  • #2 Best City to Work From Home in 2021 – SmartAsset
  • #8 Top Large County for Talent Migration & Changing Cities: 2020 Shift (Wake County, NC)
  • #7 Top Inbound Cities in the U.S.- Updaters
  • # 9 Most Livable City in the U.S. –  SmartAsset
  • #3 Happiest City in the U.S. – Men’s Health
  • #3 America’s Cheapest Cities Where Everyone Wants to Live Right Now – USA Today

The top 10 are shown in the following chart. (Read the full study online.)

WalletHub graphic

Study criteria as explained by WalletHub:

“We evaluated those dimensions using compiled 44 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most livable state capital. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*) were available only at the state level. For metrics marked with two asterisks (**), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

“We then determined each state capital’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its “State Capital Index” and used the resulting indexes to rank-order the states.”