Research Triangle

Definitions

The Research Triangle encompasses between 3 to 16 counties depending on the definition used. The three core counties of Wake, Durham, and Orange are home to research universities.

Combined Statistical Area

As of July 21, 2023, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineated the Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area as consisting of two metropolitan and three micropolitan statistical areas. Those five statistical areas in turn are defined as consisting of a total of ten counties. The statistical areas and their constituent counties are outlined in the following tables:

Statistical Areas

Counties

Prior to September 2018, the OMB used the name Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Combined Statistical Area, and several additional counties were included. The Dunn µSA (Harnett County) and Sanford µSA (Lee County) were moved to the Fayetteville–Sanford–Lumberton Combined Statistical Area, while the Oxford µSA (Granville County) was folded into the Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Raleigh Metropolitan Statistical Area was also renamed the Raleigh–Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Regional partnerships

The members of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership are:

Chatham

Durham

Franklin

Granville

Harnett

Johnston

Lee

Nash

Orange

Person

Wake

Warren

Wilson

All counties in North Carolina are in one of 16 regional councils which provide programs and services to local governments. The Triangle J Council of Governments includes Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, and Wake Counties. The northern Triangle counties of Person, Granville, Franklin, Vance, and Warren are part of the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments.

Cities

The Triangle region, as defined for statistical purposes as the Raleigh–Durham–Cary CSA, comprises nine counties, although the U.S. Census Bureau divided the region into two metropolitan statistical areas and one micropolitan area in 2003. The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area comprises Wake, Franklin, and Johnston Counties; the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area comprises Durham, Orange, Chatham, Granville, and Person Counties; and the Henderson micropolitan area comprises Vance County.

Some area television stations define the region as Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville. Fayetteville is more than 50 miles (80 km) from Raleigh, but is part of the Triangle television market.

Education

Public secondary education in the Triangle is similar to that of the majority of the state of North Carolina, in which there are county-wide school systems (the exception is Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools within Orange County but apart from Orange County Schools). Based in Cary, the Wake County Public School System, which includes the cities of Raleigh and Cary, is the largest school system in the state of North Carolina and the 15th-largest in the United States, with average daily enrollment of 159,949 as of the second month of the 2016–17 school year. Other larger systems in the region include Durham Public Schools (about 33,000 students) and rapidly growing Johnston County Schools (about 31,000 students).

Institutions of higher education

Campbell University

Central Carolina Community College

Duke University

Durham Technical Community College

ECPI University, Raleigh campus

Louisburg College

Meredith College

Montreat College's School of Professional and Adult Studies

North Carolina Central University

North Carolina State University

Piedmont Community College

Shaw University

Skema Business School, Raleigh campus

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southeastern

St. Augustine's College

Strayer University, Raleigh campus

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Vance-Granville Community College

Wake Technical Community College

William Peace University

Sports

College sports

With the significant number of universities and colleges in the area and the relative absence of major league professional sports, NCAA sports are very popular, particularly those sports in which the Atlantic Coast Conference participates, most notably basketball.

The Duke Blue Devils (representing Duke University in Durham), NC State Wolfpack (representing North Carolina State University in Raleigh), and North Carolina Tar Heels (representing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) are all members of the ACC. Rivalries among these schools are very strong, fueled by proximity to each other, with annual competitions in every sport. Adding to the rivalries is the large number of graduates the high schools in the region send to each of the local universities. It is very common for students at one university to know many students attending the other local universities, which increases the opportunities for "bragging" among the schools. The four ACC schools in the state, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest University (the last of which was originally located in the town of Wake Forest before moving to Winston-Salem in 1956), are referred to as Tobacco Road by sportscasters, particularly in basketball. All four teams consistently produce high-caliber teams . Each of the Triangle-based universities listed has won at least two NCAA Basketball national championships.

Three historically black colleges, including recent Division I arrival North Carolina Central University and Division II members Saint Augustine's University and Shaw University also boost the popularity of college sports in the region.

Other colleges in the Triangle that field intercollegiate teams include Campbell University, Meredith College, and William Peace University.

The Triangle will host the World University Summer Games in 2029.

Professional sports

The region has only one professional team of the four major sports, the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League, based in Raleigh. Since moving to the Research Triangle region from Hartford, Connecticut, they have enjoyed great success, including winning two Stanley Cup championships, most recently in June 2026.

Cary is home to the North Carolina Courage, who compete in the National Women's Soccer League. They relocated to the Triangle from western New York in 2017 and experienced immediate success, winning the NWSL Shield in their first three years. They play in WakeMed Soccer Park, which has also hosted The Soccer Tournament since 2023. The complex was previously home to North Carolina FC, who competed in the USL Championship; they are currently dormant pending an application to join the USL Premier in 2028.

With limited top-level professional sports options, minor league sports are quite popular in the region. The region is home to two Minor League Baseball teams: the Durham Bulls and the Wilson Warbirds. The Bulls are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Warbirds are the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They previously played in Zebulon as the Carolina Mudcats for many years before relocating to Wilson in 2026.

Durham is also home to the Carolina Blaze of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

The area also had a team in the fledgling World League of American Football – however, the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks, coached by Roman Gabriel, did not exactly cover themselves in glory; they lost all 10 games of their inaugural (and only) season in 1991. The team folded after that, being replaced in the league by the Ohio Glory, which fared little better at 1–9, ultimately suffering the same fate – along with the other six teams based in North America – when the league took a two-year hiatus, returning as a six-team all-European league in 1995. The Orange County Speedway in Rougemont hosts stock car racing events including the Pro All Stars Series, the CARS Super Late Model Tour and the CARS Late Model Stock Tour.

Economy

The region's growing high-technology community includes such companies as IBM, Lenovo, SAS Institute, Cisco Systems, NetApp, Red Hat, Dell Technologies, and Credit Suisse First Boston. In addition to high-tech, the region is consistently ranked in the top three in the U.S. with concentration in life science companies. Some of these companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen Idec, BASF, Merck & Co., Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, and Pfizer. Research Triangle Park and North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus in Raleigh support innovation through R&D and technology transfer among the region's companies and research universities (including Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

The area fared relatively well during the late-2000s recession, ranked as the strongest region in North Carolina by the Brookings Institution and among the top 40 in the country. The change in unemployment during 2008 to 2009 was 4.6% and home prices was 2%. The Greensboro metropolitan area was listed among the second-weakest and the Charlotte area among the middle in the country.

Major hospitals, medical centers and medical schools

The Research Triangle region is served by these hospitals and medical centers:

Hospitals of the Duke University Health System

Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center (Durham)

Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center (Durham)

Duke Raleigh Hospital (formerly Raleigh Community Hospital)

Duke University Medical Center (Durham)

Duke Regional Hospital (formerly Durham Regional Hospital)

Person Memorial Hospital (Roxboro)

Hospitals of the UNC Health Care system

Chatham Hospital (Siler City)

North Carolina Cancer Hospital (Chapel Hill)

North Carolina Children's Hospital (Chapel Hill)

North Carolina Memorial Hospital (Chapel Hill)

North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital (Chapel Hill)

North Carolina Women's Hospital (Chapel Hill)

Rex Hospital (Raleigh)

UNC Health Johnston (Smithfield)

Hospitals of the WakeMed system

Transportation

Freeways and primary designated routes

The Triangle proper is served by four major interstate highways: I-40, I-42, I-85, and I-87 along with their spurs: I-885, I-440, and I-540, and seven U.S. Routes: 1, 15, 64, 70, 264, 401, and 501. US Highways 15 and 501 are multiplexed through much of the region as US 15-501. I-95 passes 30 miles east of Raleigh through Johnston County, with I-87 connecting I-95 at Rocky Mount, NC to Raleigh via the US 64–264 Bypass.

The two interstates diverge from one another in Orange County, with I-85 heading northeast through northern Durham County toward Virginia, while I-40 travels southeast through southern Durham, through the center of the region, and serves as the primary freeway through Raleigh. The related loop freeways I-440 and I-540 are primarily located in Wake County around Raleigh. I-440 begins at the interchange of US 1 and I-40 southwest of downtown Raleigh and arcs as a multiplex with US 1 northward around downtown with the formal designation as the Cliff Benson/Raleigh Beltline (cosigned with US 1 on three-fourths of its northern route) and ends at its junction with I-40 in southeast Raleigh. I-540, sometimes known as the Raleigh Outer Loop, extends from the US 64–264 Bypass to I-40 just inside Durham County, where it continues across the interstate as a state route (NC 540), prior to it becoming a toll road from the NC 54 interchange to the current terminus at I-40 and I-42 near Garner. I-95 serves the extreme eastern edge of the region, crossing north–south through suburban Johnston County.

U.S. Routes 1, 15, and 64 primarily serve the region as limited-access freeways or multilane highways with access roads. US 1 enters the region from the southwest as the Claude E. Pope Memorial Highway and travels through suburban Apex where it merges with US 64 and continues northeast through Cary. The two highways are codesignated for about 2 miles (3.2 km) until US 1 joins I-440 and US 64 with I-40 along the Raleigh–Cary border. Capital Boulevard, which is designated US 1 for half of its route and US 401 the other is not a limited-access freeway, although it is a major thoroughfare through northeast Raleigh and into the northern downtown area.

North Carolina Highway 147 is a limited-access freeway that connects I-85 with Toll Route NC 540 in northwestern Wake County. The older, toll-free portion of the four-lane route—known as the Durham Freeway or the I.L. "Buck" Dean Expressway—traverses downtown Durham and extends through Research Triangle Park to I-40. The Durham Freeway is often used as a detour or alternate route for I-40 through southwestern Durham the Chapel Hill area in cases of traffic accident, congestion or road construction delays. The tolled portion of NC 147, called the Triangle Expressway—North Carolina's first modern toll road when it opened to traffic in late 2011—continues past I-40 to Toll NC 540. Both Toll NC 147 and Toll NC 540 are modern facilities which collect tolls using transponders and license plate photo-capture technology.

Public transit

A partnering system of multiple public transportation agencies currently serves the Triangle region under the joint GoTriangle branding. Raleigh is served by GoRaleigh (formerly Capital Area Transit) municipal transit system, while Durham has GoDurham (formerly the Durham Area Transit Authority). Chapel Hill is served by Chapel Hill Transit, and Cary is served by GoCary (formerly C-Tran) public transit systems. However, GoTriangle, formerly called Triangle Transit, works in cooperation with all area transit systems by offering transfers between its own routes and those of the other systems. Triangle Transit also coordinates an extensive vanpool and rideshare program that serves the region's larger employers and commute destinations.

Air

(IATA: RDU, ICAO: KRDU, FAA LID: RDU)

Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU) has nonstop passenger service to 89 destinations, including nonstop international service to Canada, Europe, and Mexico. It is located near the geographic center of The Triangle, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the town of Morrisville in Wake County. The airport covers 5,000 acres (2,023 ha) and has three runways.

In 1939 the General Assembly of North Carolina chartered the Raleigh–Durham Aeronautical Authority, which was changed in 1945 to the Raleigh–Durham Airport Authority. The first new terminal opened in 1955. Terminal A (now Terminal 1) opened in 1981. American Airlines began service to RDU in 1985.

RDU opened the 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway, 5L-23R, in 1986. American Airlines opened its north–south hub operation at RDU in the new Terminal C in June 1987, greatly increasing the size of RDU's operations with a new terminal including a new apron and runway. American brought RDU its first international flights to Bermuda, Cancún, Paris and London.

In 1996, American Airlines ceased its hub operations at RDU due to Pan Am and Eastern Airlines. Pan Am and Eastern were Miami's main tenants until 1991, when both carriers went bankrupt. Their hubs at MIA were taken over by United Airlines and American Airlines. This created a difficulty in competing with US Airways' hub in Charlotte and Delta Air Lines' hub in Atlanta, Georgia for passengers traveling between smaller cities in the North and South. Midway Airlines entered the market, starting service in 1995 with the then somewhat novel concept of 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets providing service from its RDU hub primarily along the East Coast. Midway, originally incorporated in Chicago, had some success after moving its operations to the midpoint of the eastern United States at RDU and its headquarters to Morrisville, NC. The carrier ultimately could not overcome three weighty challenges: the arrival of Southwest Airlines, the refusal of American Airlines to renew the frequent flyer affiliation it had with Midway (thus dispatching numerous higher fare-paying businesspeople to airlines with better reward destinations), and the significant blow of September 11, 2001. Midway Airlines filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 13, 2001, and ceased operations entirely on October 30, 2003.

In February 2000, RDU was ranked as the nation's second fastest-growing major airport in the United States, by Airports Council International, based on 1999 statistics. Passenger growth hit 24% over the previous year, ranking RDU second only to Washington Dulles International Airport. RDU opened Terminal A south concourse for use by Northwest and Continental Airlines in 2001. The addition added 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) and five aircraft gates to the terminal. Terminal A became designated as Terminal 1 on October 26, 2008. In 2003, RDU also dedicated a new general aviation terminal. RDU continues to keep pace with its growth by redeveloping Terminal C into a new state-of-the-art terminal, now known as Terminal 2, which opened in October 2008.

Rail

Amtrak serves the region with the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmetto, Carolinian, and Piedmont routes.

Shopping

Super-regional enclosed malls

Triangle Town Center and Commons (Raleigh; 1,431,091 ft²) (opened 2002)

The Streets at Southpoint (Durham; 1,336,000 ft²) (opened 2002)

Crabtree Mall (Raleigh; 1,326,000 ft²) (opened 1972)

Cary Towne Center (Cary; 914,252 ft²) (opened 1979, closed 2021)

Northgate Mall (Durham; 857,099 ft²) (opened 1960, enclosed 1972, closed 2020)

Major shopping centers

Crossroads Plaza (Cary; 1,300,000 ft²)

Village District (Raleigh; 656,000 ft²)

Carolina Premium Outlets (Smithfield; 440,000 ft²)

University Place (Chapel Hill; 366,000 ft²)

Carr Mill Mall (Carrboro; 86,000 ft²)

Tanger Outlet Center (Mebane; 317,000 ft²)

North Hills Mall & Plaza (Raleigh)

The Streets at Southpoint (Durham; 1,330,000 ft²)

Entertainment

Film festivals and events:

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival – Durham

North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – Durham

Notable performing arts and music venues:

Cat's Cradle – Carrboro

Coastal Credit Union Music Park – Raleigh

Red Hat Amphitheater – downtown Raleigh

Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park – Cary

Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts – downtown Raleigh

Lenovo Center – Raleigh

The Ritz - Raleigh

Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh

Durham Performing Arts Center – Durham

Carolina Theatre – Durham

Joseph M. Bryan, Jr. Theater – Raleigh

Pinhook – Durham

Hayti Heritage Cultural Center – Durham

Theatre and dance events:

American Dance Festival – Durham

Wake Forest Dance Festival – Wake Forest

Raleigh Little Theatre – Raleigh

Gardens and parks

JC Raulston Arboretum – Raleigh

Bond Park – Cary

John Chavis Memorial Park – Raleigh

Dorothea Dix Park – Raleigh

Sarah P. Duke Gardens – Durham

Durham Central Park – Durham

Durant Nature Preserve – Raleigh

Falls Lake State Recreation Area – Raleigh

Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve – Cary

Moore Square Park – Raleigh

North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill

Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, Hillsborough

Pullen Park – Raleigh

Raleigh Rose Garden – Raleigh

William B. Umstead State Park – Raleigh, Cary, Durham

Lakes

Lake Crabtree – Cary

Eno Rock Quarry – Durham

Falls Lake – Raleigh

Fantasy Lake – Wake Forest

Hyco Lake – Roxboro

Jordan Lake – Durham

Lake Michie – Bahama

Shelley Lake – Raleigh

Media

The area is part of the Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville television designated media area and is the 25th-largest in the country with 1,135,920 households (2014) included in that area and the second largest television market in North Carolina. It is part of the Raleigh–Durham Nielsen Audio radio market (code 115) and is the 42nd-largest in the country with a population of 1,365,900.

The Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville market is defined by Nielsen as including Chatham, Cumberland, Dunn, Durham, Granville, Halifax, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Northampton, Orange, Robeson, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne, and Wilson Counties, along with parts of Franklin County.

Print

Numerous newspapers and periodicals serve the Triangle market.

The News & Observer, the major daily Raleigh newspaper and the region's largest, with a significant regional and statewide readership (especially to the east of the Triangle)

The Herald-Sun, the major daily Durham newspaper

Garner News, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Garner in southern Wake County

The Apex Herald, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Apex in western Wake County

Holly Springs Sun, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Holly Springs in southwestern Wake County

Butner-Creedmoor News The Weekly community newspaper for southern Granville County and surrounding areas

Cleveland Post, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Cleveland and nearby northwestern Johnston and southern Wake Counties

Fuquay-Varina Independent, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Fuquay-Varina in southwestern Wake County

The Wake Weekly, a weekly community newspaper serving suburban Wake Forest, northern Wake County and southern Franklin County

The Chatham Journal, the weekly community newspaper for suburban Pittsboro and surrounding Chatham County

The Clayton News-Star, a weekly community newspaper for suburban Clayton and western Johnston County

The Daily Record, the daily community newspaper for suburban Dunn and surrounding Harnett County

Television

The Triangle is part of the Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville Designated Market Area for broadcast television. As of 2015–16, the area was the 25th-largest in the country. This area includes these television stations:

WUNC-TV (4, Chapel Hill), PBS member station and flagship station of the PBS North Carolina television network, owned by the University of North Carolina system

WRAL-TV (5, Raleigh), NBC affiliate owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company

WTVD (11, Durham), ABC O&O owned by ABC Owned Television Stations

WNCN (17, Goldsboro), CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group

WLFL (22, Raleigh), CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group

WTNC-LD (26, Durham), UniMás O&O owned by TelevisaUnivision

WRDC (28, Durham), MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group

WRAY-TV (30, Wilson), TCT O&O owned by Tri-State Christian Television

WUVC-DT (40, Fayetteville), Univision O&O owned by TelevisaUnivision

WRPX-TV (47, Rocky Mount) and WFPX-TV (62, Fayetteville), both Ion Television O&Os owned by Scripps Networks

WRAZ-TV (50, Raleigh), Fox affiliate owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company

Raleigh is home to the Research Triangle Region bureau of the regional cable TV news channel Spectrum News 1 North Carolina.

Radio

The Triangle is home to North Carolina Public Radio, a public radio station/NPR provider that brings in listeners around the country. Raleigh and a large part of the Triangle area is Arbitron radio market #43. Stations include: