Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Wake Forest's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Wake Forest?
Your $100,000 in Wake Forest has the same purchasing power as $100,452 in the average US city.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Wake Forest's cost index of 100, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Wake Forest, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously paychecks here run high and it's a quieter city by the numbers, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in Wake Forest is $115,159 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
Wake Forest reports roughly 1,168 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Wake Forest's air quality index averages about 43 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
58% of adults 25 and over in Wake Forest hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Wake Forest's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes, several times a winter. Wake Forest's winter average of about 33°F sits right around freezing, so storms typically drop real snow that lingers a few days before slush sets in.
Cold but workable. Winter in Wake Forest averages about 33°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Wake Forest runs about 89°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 8. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 8 or colder should survive a typical winter in Wake Forest. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Wake Forest sits at about 351 feet (107 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Wake Forest, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
By the numbers, yes. Wake Forest reports roughly 1,168 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Roughly average. Wake Forest's cost-of-living index is 100, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Mostly car-dependent. Wake Forest's Walk Score of 26/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $69,685 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Wake Forest runs about $1,354/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.