City comparison
Raleigh, NC is about 500 miles (850 km) from Troy, MI in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 650 miles, or about 11 hours 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 Raleigh, NC to Troy, MI takes about 1 h 3 min, covering roughly 500 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.
Raleigh, NC is on Eastern Time and Troy, MI is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Raleigh, it's 11 a.m. in Troy, which puts Raleigh 1 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.
Raleigh has a population of 465,517, vs 87,170 in Troy — about 5.3× larger by population. By land area, Raleigh covers about 150 sq mi vs 33 sq mi for Troy.
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 | Raleigh | Troy | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,371/mo | $1,461/mo | 6.6% higher in Troy |
| Median home value | $347,000 | $375,600 | 8.2% higher in Troy |
| Median household income | $78,631 | $115,639 | 47.1% higher in Troy |
| Groceries index | 96.8 | 98.6 | 1.8% higher in Troy |
| Utilities index | 89.5 | 105.6 | 18.0% higher in Troy |
| Transportation index | 98.4 | 102.1 | 3.7% higher in Troy |
| Healthcare index | 97.9 | 102.3 | 4.5% higher in Troy |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Raleigh, you'd need $99,890 in Troy to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Raleigh and Troy have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 8% higher in Raleigh than in Troy. If you earn $80,000 in Raleigh, you'd need about $79,912 in Troy to keep the same standard of living.