Research Triangle


The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a Combined Statistical Area in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, the region is home to three major research universities: North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, respectively. The "Triangle" name originated in the 1950s with the creation of Research Triangle Park located between the three anchor cities, which is the largest research park in the United States and home to several high tech companies.
Both Raleigh and Durham have their own separate Metropolitan statistical areas. However, the nine-county region, officially named the Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area by the Office of Management and Budget, comprises the Raleigh–Cary, Durham–Chapel Hill, and Henderson, NC metropolitan statistical areas. The 2020 census put the combined statistical area population at 2,106,463, making it the second-largest combined statistical area in North Carolina, behind the Charlotte area. The Raleigh–Durham television market includes a broader 24-county area which includes Fayetteville, North Carolina, and has a population of 2,726,000 persons. Most of the Triangle is part of North Carolina's first, second, fourth, ninth, and thirteenth congressional districts.
The region is sometimes confused with the Piedmont Triad, which is a North Carolina region adjacent to and directly west of the Triangle comprising Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, among other cities. Both the Research Triangle and the Piedmont Triad form part of the Piedmont Crescent, an urbanized region of the state that includes the city of Charlotte.

Definitions

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

Combined Statistical Area

As of September 14, 2018, the US Office of Management and Budget delineated the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area as consisting of two metropolitan and one micropolitan statistical areas. Those three statistical areas in turn are defined as consisting of a total of nine counties. The statistical areas and their constituent counties are:
Prior to September 2018, the OMB had used the name Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area and it included several additional counties. The Dunn Micropolitan Statistical Area and Sanford Micropolitan Statistical Area were moved to the Fayetteville-Sanford-Lumberton Combined Statistical Area, while the Oxford Micropolitan Statistical Area was folded into the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Raleigh Metropolitan Statistical Area was also renamed the Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The table below outlines the populations of the constituent counties of the Raleigh–Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area as of the 2020 Census.
County2023 Estimate2020 CensusChange
Wake County--
Durham County--
Johnston County--
Orange County--
Chatham County--
Franklin County--
Granville County--
Vance County--
Person County--
Total--

Regional partnerships

The members of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership are:
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 from Raleigh, but is part of the Triangle television market.
RankCity / townCounty2020 Census2010 CensusChange
1RaleighWake County / Durham County--
2DurhamDurham County / Wake County--
3CaryWake County / Chatham County--
4Chapel HillOrange County / Durham County / Chatham County--
5ApexWake County--
6Wake ForestWake County / Franklin County--
7Holly SpringsWake County--
8Fuquay-VarinaWake County--
9GarnerWake County--
10MorrisvilleWake County / Durham County--
11ClaytonJohnston County / Wake County--
12CarrboroOrange County--
13KnightdaleWake County--
14MebaneAlamance County / Orange County--
15HendersonVance County--

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. 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 and rapidly growing Johnston County Schools.

Institutions of higher education

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, NC State Wolfpack, and North Carolina Tar Heels 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, 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 St. Augustine College 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 a Stanley Cup, which is still their only championship victory as of May 2025. The North Carolina Courage began play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2017 after the owner of North Carolina FC bought the NWSL franchise rights of the Western New York Flash and relocated the NWSL franchise to the Triangle. The team has achieved broad success in the league, winning 2 NWSL championships and 3 NWSL Shields in the first five years in the Triangle. With limited top-level professional sports option, minor league sports are quite popular in the region. The Durham Bulls in downtown Durham are the only AAA Minor League baseball affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, after the Carolina Mudcats left for Wilson in 2026 to become the Wilson Warbirds. Elsewhere, in Cary, North Carolina FC plays in the second-tier USL Championship
TeamLeagueSportVenue
Carolina HurricanesNHLHockeyLenovo Center
Durham BullsIL BaseballDBAP
North Carolina CourageNWSL SoccerWakeMed Soccer Park
North Carolina FCUSLC SoccerWakeMed Soccer Park
Carolina FlyersAUDLUltimateWakeMed Soccer Park / Cardinal Gibbons High School

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 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.