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- Raleigh, North Carolina
How walkable is Raleigh, North Carolina?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Raleigh, North Carolina has a walkability score of 50 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 56th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 1 other.
What's within walking distance of the center
1,176 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Raleigh, North Carolina. The nearest grocery is about 11 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks and schools.
Groceries
- Weaver Street Market, 13 min
- The Fresh Market, 14 min
Restaurants & bars
- Crisp Golden’s, 5 min
- Gussie's, 6 min
Shopping
- The Green Monkey, 5 min
- Cricket Wireless, 5 min
Coffee
- Irregardless, 7 min
- Dunkin' Donuts, 7 min
Banks
- Capital Bank, 9 min
- First Horizon Bank, 9 min
Parks
- Edna Metz Wells Park, 7 min
- Forest Park, 7 min
Schools
- Wiley Magnet Elementary School, 2 min
- Broughton Magnet High School, 11 min
Books & libraries
- Wake County Public Libraries, 15 min
- Campbell Law Bookstore, 15 min
Culture & entertainment
- Tin Roof, 8 min
- Joel Lane Museum House, 9 min
Further than usual
- The nearest restaurant is 5 minutes from the center on foot, against 1 minute for the median city ranked.
- The nearest shop is 5 minutes from the center on foot, against 1 minute for the median city ranked.
Measured from the center at 35.7838, -78.6524, the point near Raleigh, North Carolina's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 85 street intersections per km², and blocks average 92 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
Raleigh, North Carolina's score of 50 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 84 within 1 km of the center, 61 from 1 to 3 km out and 39 from 3 to 5 km out. 26% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the center, so check a specific address on the map.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Raleigh, North Carolina. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 87 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 84 | 86% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 61 | 34% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 39 | 13% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | 209 km | 58 |
| Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States | 267 km | 37 |
| Washington, D.C., United States | 375 km | 79 |
| Baltimore, United States | 431 km | 77 |
| Pittsburgh, United States | 533 km | 61 |
Questions about walking in Raleigh, North Carolina
Is Raleigh, North Carolina a walkable city?
Partly. Raleigh, North Carolina has a walkability score of 50 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 87. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 56th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 595th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Raleigh, North Carolina ranks joint 56th with 50.
How does Raleigh, North Carolina compare with nearby cities?
Raleigh, North Carolina sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 50, against Charlotte, North Carolina (58, 209 km away), Virginia Beach, Virginia (37, 267 km away) and Washington, D.C. (79, 375 km away).
Which part of Raleigh, North Carolina is most walkable?
Raleigh's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 87. Walkability averages 84 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the north-east (averaging 60) and falls most to the south-west (28).
Why is Raleigh, North Carolina's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Raleigh, North Carolina's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Raleigh, North Carolina's walkability score calculated?
For Raleigh, North Carolina it is the average of 84 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 22 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
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