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Raleigh, North Carolina
| Raleigh, North Carolina | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Raleigh
Janet Cowell | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2026 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2026 |
| City council seats: | 8[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 467,665 |
| Race: | White 53.3% African American 26.3% Asian 5% Native American 0.6% Pacific Islander 0.1% Multiple 7.4% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 12.9% |
| Median household income: | $82,424 |
| High school graduation rate: | 92.5% |
| College graduation rate: | 52.9% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Raleigh offices | |
| North Carolina Congressional Delegation North Carolina State Legislature North Carolina state executive offices | |
Raleigh is a city in Wake County, North Carolina. The city's population was 467,665 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Raleigh utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2][3]
Mayor
The mayor presides over city council meetings and official city ceremonies. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[2][3]
The current Mayor of Raleigh is Janet Cowell (nonpartisan). Cowell assumed office in 2024.
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief administrator. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning and implementing the city's operating budget, and appointing departmental directors and other senior-level positions.[4][5]
City council
The Raleigh City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies and ordinances.[2]
The Raleigh City Council is made up of eight members, including the mayor. Five members are elected by the city's five districts, while two other members and the mayor are elected at large.[2]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Mayoral partisanship
Raleigh has a Democratic mayor. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was July 19, 2024.
2022
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was July 15, 2022.[6]
The offices were originally scheduled to be on the ballot in 2021. They were moved to 2022 due to redistricting delays.[7]
2019
2017
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, held municipal elections for mayor and city council on October 10, 2017. A runoff took place on November 7, 2017, in those races where no candidate received a majority of the vote. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 21, 2017. All seven council seats were up for election.
2015
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, held elections for mayor and city council on October 6, 2015. A runoff took place on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 17, 2015.[8] All seven city council seats were up for election.[9]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Raleigh | |
|---|---|
| Raleigh | |
| Population | 467,665 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 149 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 53.8% |
| Black/African American | 27.5% |
| Asian | 4.7% |
| Native American | 0.4% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| Other (single race) | 5.5% |
| Multiple | 8% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 12.7% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 92.5% |
| College graduation rate | 52.9% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $82,424 |
| Persons below poverty level | 11.4% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates on a fiscal year cycle from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. The process begins with city departments submitting budget requests for the upcoming year to the Budget and Management Services Department for review. The department works with the city manager and city council to finalize recommendations into a budget proposal. The public is surveyed for input on funding priorities. The city manager provides the council with the proposed budget, and the council holds a public hearing on the proposal. The council is responsible for adopting the budget by July 1.[10]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[11]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[12] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[13] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[11]
Revenue and expenditure by year
The total revenue and expenditure figures were pulled from the all funds revenue and expenditures tables in the city's fiscal year 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 adopted budget.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
| City of Raleigh historical revenue and expenditures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Budget type | Total revenue | Total expenditure |
| 2021-2022 | Adopted | $1,452,326,375 | $1,452,326,375 |
| 2020-2021 | Adopted | $1,357,623,890 | $1,357,623,890 |
| 2019-2020 | Adopted | $1,411,508,256 | $1,411,508,256 |
| 2018-2019 | Adopted | $1,321,911,083 | $1,321,911,083 |
| 2017-2018 | Adopted | $1,267,173,812 | $1,267,173,812 |
Raleigh, North Carolina salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
Raleigh Municipal Building
2nd Floor
222 W. Hargett St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-996-3050
City Clerk's office
Raleigh Municipal Building
222 W. Hargett St., Ste. 207
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-996-3040
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
The city of Raleigh is in Wake County. A list of ballot measures in Wake County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Raleigh, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Raleigh, North Carolina began on Saturday, May 30, 2020.[20] On May 31, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) deployed the North Carolina National Guard to the city.[21] No curfews were issued over the weekend.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Raleigh, North Carolina, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[22]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
- Cities in North Carolina
- Wake County, North Carolina
- Largest cities in the United States by population
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- City of Raleigh official website
- Raleigh City Council and Office of the Mayor
- Raleigh City Charter and Code
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 City of Raleigh, "City Council," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Raleigh Municipal Code, "City Charter," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "City Manager," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh Municipal Code, "City Charter: ARTICLE III. - APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; INTEREST OF OFFICIALS IN CONTRACTS," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ Wake County, "Candidate Filing Information," accessed July 16, 2021
- ↑ North Carolina Legislature, "Senate Bill 722," accessed July 7, 2021
- ↑ Correspondence with Gary Sims of Wake County on November 17, 2014.
- ↑ Wake County Board of Elections, "Future Election Dates," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Budget Process," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Adopted Budget FY2022," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Annual Budget Documents," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Adopted Budget FY2021," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Adopted Budget FY2020," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Adopted Budget FY2019," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Raleigh, "Adopted Budget FY2018," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ WUNC, "Protesters Gather Across Triangle To Denouce George Floyd's Death," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Indy Week, "Cooper Calls in National Guard After Riot in Downtown Raleigh," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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