Chapel Hill, NC vs Durham, NC

Side-by-side comparison of housing, income, commute, safety, and quality of life.

Score Snapshot

No universal winner

Scores summarize the published model. Use the objective metric differences below and your own priorities to choose.

Chapel Hill

68.6

#1303 nationally

Durham

69.4

#1213 nationally

Durham leads in cost of living index (102 vs 133). Chapel Hill leads in median household income ($85,940 vs $67,432). Chapel Hill leads in average commute (19.6 min vs 22.8 min).

Metric-by-Metric Breakdown

Metric	Chapel Hill, NC	Durham, NC
WhereAtHome Score	68.6 (#1303)	69.4 (#1213)
Population	62,043	283,506
Typical Home Value (ZHVI)	$636,021	$395,976
Median Household Income	$85,940	$67,432
Average Commute	19.6 min	22.8 min
Walk Score	34	33
Crime Level	4.7	Moderate
School Rating	N/A	6.4
Cost of Living Index	133	102
Political lean County 2024 presidential margin — context only, not scored	D+51.1	D+61.9