Sell Your Commercial Property In Cary, NC

Who rents in Cary

Cary's 179,306 residents are mostly homeowners, but its renter base is substantial: the 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts 23,271 renter households among 69,710 occupied homes, or 33.4%. That is close to the Wake County renter share of 35.9% and matches the statewide 33.4%. What sets Cary apart is income. The median household earns $134,905, compared with $105,768 countywide.

The town's employment base explains much of that. SAS bought land in Cary in 1980 and its headquarters campus now covers 900 acres. Research Triangle Park, which reports more than 385 companies and over 55,000 people across 7,000 acres, sits just north of Cary and Morrisville. WakeMed lists 208 licensed beds at its Cary Hospital in FY2025. Together they draw technology, research and medical workers who often rent before buying.

Rents and affordability

Cary's median gross rent is $1,738 a month, $115 above Wake County and $510 above the state median. Despite the higher rents, only 36.9% of renter households pay 30% or more of income on housing, and 15.8% pay half or more, compared with 50.5% and 23.5% in Raleigh. For owners, a lower cost burden usually means steadier collections and less resistance to renewal increases.

HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Raleigh-Cary metro area are:

Because Cary's median rent is already close to the two-bedroom FMR, voucher rents are less likely to exceed market rents here than in Raleigh or Durham.

The apartment stock

Per the ACS, 17,788 of Cary's 73,795 housing units, or 24.1%, are in buildings with five or more units, about the same as Wake County's 24.0%. The 5+ stock is spread fairly evenly: 4,171 units in 5–9 unit buildings, 5,428 in 10–19, 3,804 in 20–49 and 4,385 in buildings of 50 or more. The median structure was built in 1999, so most of the apartment inventory is younger than in Raleigh or Durham.

Downtown Cary has the town's walkable core, while Preston, on the west side, is mostly owner-occupied single-family housing where rentals are fewer. Morrisville and Apex are separate towns with their own tax rates; Morrisville sits closest to RTP.

The size mix matters for a seller. Buildings of 5 to 19 units hold 54.0% of Cary's apartment units and those of 50 or more hold 24.7%. Small and mid-size buildings are therefore the most common holding, and because so much of the stock was built in the 1990s and later, buyers will focus on whether original systems and finishes have been updated rather than on structural age alone.

How Cary compares with Raleigh and Durham

Cary's numbers sit at the high end of the Triangle. Its median gross rent of $1,738 compares with $1,572 in Raleigh and $1,508 in Durham, and its median household income is about $50,000 higher than either city's. Its renter share, 33.4%, is far below Raleigh's 49.3% and Durham's 47.7%, and so is its share of homes in 5+ unit buildings. Fewer apartment buildings and a better-paid tenant base tend to mean fewer comparable sales, so pricing a Cary building often leans on in-place income rather than on a deep set of local comps.

Property taxes

North Carolina taxes apartments on 100% of appraised value under G.S. 105-284. Wake County's FY2027 adopted budget raised the county rate 2 cents to 53.71 cents per $100. The Town of Cary's FY2026-27 rate is 36.75 cents, up from 34.00 cents, and Morrisville's is 35.00 cents, according to the rate tables published by Durham County, which collects for the parts of both towns inside its borders. Inside Cary's Wake County portion, that makes a combined 90.46 cents, or about $36,184 a year on a $4 million building.

Wake County's next revaluation takes effect January 1, 2027, replacing values set as of January 1, 2024. Notices are expected by January 22, 2027, and the planned appeal deadline is April 30, 2027. The county plans to revalue every two years after that. For the 2027 analysis it has grouped its roughly 460,000 parcels into 5,400 neighborhoods, so value changes will differ from one part of the county to another. Rates are typically revisited after a revaluation, so the 2027 bill depends on both the new value and the rate the county and town adopt next June.

Landlord rules

G.S. 42-14.1 prohibits local rent control and local voucher-acceptance mandates. G.S. 42-51 caps deposits at 1.5 months' rent for month-to-month tenancies and two months' rent for longer terms. G.S. 160D-1207 prevents a general rental registry; permits can be required only for properties with repeated violations or high crime and disorder, and fees are capped at $500 a year. G.S. 42-52 requires an itemized deposit accounting within 30 days after a tenancy ends, or within 60 days if an interim accounting is sent first.

What this means if you own a building here

Cary buildings sell on the strength of a high-income, low-burden tenant base, but they face the same 2027 tax reset as the rest of Wake County. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Cary, Morrisville and Apex. Estimate value with our apartment building value calculator, or see how we make offers on the sell your apartment building page.