Where’s Raleigh? New report ranks affordability, crime, income in US capital cities

Raleigh ranked #2 overall in a recent WalletHub report comparing all the state capitals in the United States. The top spot went to Austin, Texas.

All 50 state capitals were ranked across affordability, economic well-being, quality of life, and quality of education and health to make this determination. You can read more about WalletHub’s methodology at their website: wallethub.com.

Here’s how Raleigh ranked, compared to all other state capitals, across these categories:

• Affordability: Raleigh was ranked #1. WalletHub named Raleigh to be the most affordable state capital in the nation, followed by Cheyenne, Wyoming and Concord, New Hampshire.

• Economic Well-Being: Raleigh was ranked #7. The top three spots went to Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah and Denver, Colorado.

• Quality of Education and Health: Raleigh was ranked #4. The top three spots went to Madison, Wisconsin; Austin, Texas and Honolulu, Hawaii.

• Quality of Life: Raleigh was ranked #10. The top three spots went to Boston, Massachusetts; Honolulu, Hawaii and Madison, Wisconsin.

Source: WalletHub

Crime rates, median income in Raleigh

WalletHub pulled out some key statistics, ranking state capitals in individual categories. Raleigh scored highly across other ranking as well, such as crime rates and earnings:

• Median household income: Raleigh was named the best city regarding median household income adjusted for the cost of living. WalletHub named Hartford, Connecticut, as the worst city.

• Bachelor’s degrees: Raleigh was the fifth-highest city for the percentage of adults who earned a bachelor’s degree. WalletHub named Trenton, New Jersey, as the lowest city.

• Premature death: Raleigh’s premature death rate was the fourth-lowest out of all the state capitals. WalletHub named Charleston, West Virginia, as the city with the highest premature death rate.

• Crime: Raleigh’s crime rate was the fifth-lowest out of all the state capitals. WalletHub named Little Rock, Arkansas, as the city with the highest crime rate.

WalletHub used data from the US Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Council for Community of Economic Research, Yelp, Walk Score and more.

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