City comparison
Cary, NC is about 2,400 miles (3,800 km) from Medford, OR in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 3,000 miles, or about 50 hours (about 5 days at 10 h/day) behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Cary, NC to Medford, OR takes about 4 h 45 min, covering roughly 2,400 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Cary, NC is on Eastern Time and Medford, OR is on Pacific Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in Cary, it's 9 a.m. in Medford, which puts Cary 3 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Cary has a population of 174,880, vs 85,539 in Medford — about 2.0× larger by population. By land area, Cary covers about 61 sq mi vs 29 sq mi for Medford.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Cary | Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,538/mo | $1,214/mo | 26.7% higher in Cary |
| Median home value | $477,400 | $355,600 | 34.3% higher in Cary |
| Median household income | $125,317 | $65,647 | 90.9% higher in Cary |
| Groceries index | 96.8 | 105.2 | 8.6% higher in Medford |
| Utilities index | 89.5 | 104.3 | 16.6% higher in Medford |
| Transportation index | 98.4 | 100.7 | 2.3% higher in Medford |
| Healthcare index | 97.9 | 100.6 | 2.8% higher in Medford |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Cary, you'd need $100,290 in Medford to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Cary and Medford have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 8% higher in Cary than in Medford. If you earn $80,000 in Cary, you'd need about $80,232 in Medford to keep the same standard of living.