Wake County, North Carolina

Wake County is a county in North Carolina, United States, in the east-central Piedmont around the state capital, Raleigh. It had a population of 1,129,410 at the 2020 census — the most populous county in North Carolina — an estimated 1,257,235 by 2025, and covers 857.02 square miles (2,219.7 km2) centred near 35°47′N 78°39′W.

Raleigh is the county seat and North Carolina’s capital city; its postal code is 27601. The county holds 2 cities and 12 incorporated towns (four of them only partly inside the county line), plus more than 40 unincorporated communities across 20 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 37183.

Towns & Villages in Wake County

Wake County has 14 incorporated municipalities with territory inside the county, from Raleigh at 467,665 people down to crossroads-scale Angier’s Wake sliver. Populations below are citywide 2020 census counts, and four places sit mostly in a neighbouring county — see the notes after the table. Unincorp. covers communities with no municipal government of their own.

Several figures above straddle county lines. Durham’s 283,506 residents live overwhelmingly in Durham County; only a small annexed edge reaches into Wake. Angier is the mirror case — it is a Harnett County town with a small northern portion in Wake. Raleigh and Morrisville each extend slightly into Durham County, Cary reaches into Chatham and Durham counties, Wake Forest crosses into Franklin County, and Zebulon extends partly into Johnston County. One naming trap: the town of Wake Forest is no longer home to Wake Forest University, which moved to Winston-Salem in 1956.

Beyond the municipalities, the county has more than 40 named unincorporated communities. Around Falls Lake in the north sit Bayleaf, Falls, New Light, Purnell, Stony Hill and Wake Crossroads. The east has Eagle Rock, Lizard Lick, Riley Hill, Shotwell and Wyatt; the south has Auburn, Kennebec, McCullers, McCullers Crossroads, Wilbon, Willow Spring and Hollemans Crossroads; the west has Bonsal, New Hill, Carpenter, Clegg, Friendship and Green Level. Others — Asbury, Banks, Barham, Feltonville, Five Points, Fowlers Crossroads, Holland, Hopkins, Lassiter, Macks Village, Medfield, Mount Pleasant, Neuse, New Hope, Sandy Plain, Six Forks, Walkers Crossroads, Westover and Williams Crossroads among them — survive mainly as crossroads names. Some, like Leesville, Six Forks, Forestville (inside Wake Forest) and Green Level (largely annexed by Cary), now sit within town limits. For statistical purposes the county is also divided into 20 townships, from Bartons Creek to White Oak; they are map divisions only, with no township government.

ZIP Codes

• 27601 — Raleigh, downtown; Raleigh’s home-delivery ZIPs run 27601 and 27603–27617
• 27695 — North Carolina State University’s dedicated campus ZIP
• 27511, 27513, 27518, 27519 — Cary (27512 is a Cary PO-box ZIP)
• 27502, 27523, 27539 — Apex
• 27587 — Wake Forest (27588 is a PO-box ZIP)
• 27540 — Holly Springs
• 27526 — Fuquay-Varina
• 27529 — Garner
• 27560 — Morrisville
• 27545 — Knightdale
• 27591 — Wendell
• 27571 — Rolesville
• 27597 — Zebulon
• 27562 — New Hill
• 27592 — Willow Spring

Raleigh also carries about twenty PO-box-only ZIPs (27602, 27611, 27619 through 27690 in scattered blocks) plus single-agency codes for state offices. Most unincorporated communities — Bayleaf, Eagle Rock, Lizard Lick, Bonsal and the rest — have no ZIP of their own and take mail under the nearest town’s code.

Geography

Wake County sits where the Piedmont’s rolling hills begin dropping toward the coastal plain; the fall line crosses its eastern half. Of its 857.02 square miles, 834.59 are land and 22.43 are water, about 2.6 percent. Falls Lake, a Neuse River reservoir completed in 1981, dominates the county’s north and supplies Raleigh’s drinking water. The Neuse River runs southeast across the county through Raleigh’s east side toward Smithfield. In the southwest, Harris Lake cools the Shearon Harris nuclear plant near New Hill. William B. Umstead State Park preserves 5,599 acres of forest between Raleigh and the airport.

Seven counties border Wake: Granville County to the north, Franklin County to the northeast, Nash County to the east, Johnston County to the southeast, Harnett County to the southwest, Chatham County to the west and Durham County to the northwest.

Demographics

Wake County had a population of 1,129,410 at the 2020 census, passing the one-million mark in August 2014, and the 2025 estimate stands near 1,257,235. Raleigh and Cary are the two largest communities and together hold well over half the county’s residents. Median household income runs $105,768, far above North Carolina’s statewide figure of $72,388. Density works out to about 1,353 people per square mile of land at the 2020 count — suburban-to-urban across most of the county, though the far north and southeast keep a rural pattern.

Economy & Local Life

Professional, scientific and technical services is the county’s biggest employment sector, with about 115,347 workers, followed by health care and social assistance at 75,178 and retail trade at 57,512. Raleigh’s role as capital makes state government a major employer, alongside North Carolina State University and its roughly 36,000 students. A corner of Research Triangle Park reaches into the county near Morrisville, and RDU-corridor employers include IBM, Cisco and GlaxoSmithKline. Cary hosts the headquarters of SAS Institute and Epic Games; Raleigh has Red Hat and the WakeMed and UNC Rex hospital systems. The county’s biggest annual event is the North Carolina State Fair, held each October at the fairgrounds in west Raleigh, drawing around a million visitors.

History

The colonial assembly created Wake County in 1771 from parts of Cumberland, Johnston and Orange counties. It was named for Margaret Wake Tryon, wife of royal governor William Tryon. In 1792 the legislature carved out a purpose-built capital, Raleigh, near the county’s centre — one of the few American state capitals founded specifically to be a seat of government.

The Battle of Morrisville Station, fought 13–15 April 1865, was among the Civil War’s last engagements; Confederate cavalry covered a retreat toward Durham Station days before the surrender at Bennett Place. The 1959 launch of Research Triangle Park, straddling the Wake–Durham line, turned the county from tobacco and textile country into one of the fastest-growing technology regions in the United States.

Getting There

Interstate 40 crosses the county east–west through Raleigh and Cary. I-440 rings inner Raleigh, I-540 forms the outer loop, and I-87 heads northeast toward Rocky Mount. US 1, US 64, US 70, US 264 and US 401 all pass through the county.

• Durham — about 25 miles northwest
• Greensboro — about 80 miles west
• Wilmington — about 130 miles southeast
• Charlotte — about 165 miles southwest

Raleigh-Durham International Airport, in the county’s northwest corner between Raleigh and Durham, handles more than 14 million passengers a year. Amtrak’s Silver Star, Carolinian and Piedmont trains stop at Raleigh Union Station downtown, with an additional Piedmont and Carolinian stop in Cary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Wake County located?
In east-central North Carolina, on the Piedmont’s eastern edge, bordered by Granville, Franklin, Nash, Johnston, Harnett, Chatham and Durham counties.

What is the population of Wake County?
1,129,410 at the 2020 census — North Carolina’s largest county — with a 2025 estimate near 1,257,235.

How big is Wake County?
857.02 square miles (2,219.7 km2), of which 834.59 square miles are land and 22.43 are water.

What is the county seat of Wake County?
Raleigh, founded in 1792 as North Carolina’s purpose-built capital, is both county seat and state capital.

How many towns and cities are in Wake County?
Fourteen municipalities hold territory in the county: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Morrisville, Knightdale, Wendell, Rolesville and Zebulon, plus slivers of Durham and Angier.

What ZIP codes does Wake County use?
Raleigh uses 27601 and 27603–27617; Cary 27511–27519; Apex 27502, 27523 and 27539; plus one main ZIP each for the other towns, 27526 to 27597.

Is Wake Forest University in Wake Forest?
No. The university began there but moved to Winston-Salem in 1956; the town kept the name.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in North Carolina.