Cary is the second largest municipality in Wake County, North Carolina and the third largest municipality in The Triangle (North Carolina) behind Raleigh and Durham. It is the seventh largest municipality in North Carolina.[1] As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 94,536.[2] Town records show a population of 122,643 as of July 2007. [3] A small part of the town extends into Chatham County.

Cary History:
Today’s Cary began in 1750 as a settlement called Bradford's Ordinary. About 100 years later, the construction of the North Carolina Railroad between New Bern and Hillsborough placed Bradford's Ordinary on a major transportation route. Allison Francis "Frank" Page is credited with founding the town. Page was a Wake County farmer and lumberman. He and his wife, Catherine "Kate" Raboteau Page bought 300 acres (1.2 km²) surrounding the railroad junction in 1854. He named his development Cary after Samuel Fenton Cary (an Ohio prohibitionist he admired). Page became a railroad agent and a town developer. He laid out the first streets in Cary. He built a sawmill, a general store and a post office (Page became the first Postmaster). In 1868, Page built a hotel to serve railroad passengers coming through Cary. The Town of Cary was incorporated on April 6, 1871. Page became the first Mayor. [6] In 1879, the Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line Railroad (later the Seaboard, now CSX) arrived in Cary from the southwest, creating Fetner Junction just north of downtown and spurring further growth.

In the early years Cary adopted zoning and other ordinances on an ad-hoc basis to control growth and give the city structure. Beginning in 1971, the town created a Planned Unit Development zoning to accommodate population growth related to the growth of Research Triangle Park nearby. A PUD allows a developer to plan an entire community before beginning development, thus allowing future residents to be aware of where churches, schools, commercial and industrial areas will be located well before such use begins. Kildaire Farms, a 967-acre (3.9 km²) Planned Unit Development in Cary was North Carolina's first PUD. It was developed on the Pine State Dairy Farm by Thomas F. Adams, Jr. and was inspired by an early PUD in Farmington, MA. Adams named a section of Kildaire Farms "Farmington Woods" in their honor. The local government has placed a high value on creating an aesthetically pleasing town.

Demographics:
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 94,536 people, 34,906 households, 25,132 families residing in the town. The population density was 867.2/km² (2,246.0/mi²). As of October 2006, the population had grown to 117,442, a 4.68% increase over the previous year.[1] There were 36,863 housing units at an average density of 338.2/km² (875.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 82.17% White, 6.15% African American, 0.27% Native American, 8.08% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.47% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.28% of the population.

There were 34,906 households out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.3% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the town, 29.1% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.7 years.[2] For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.2 males.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $80,986, and the median income for a family was $96,602.[7] Males had a median income of $62,012 versus $38,819 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,974. About 2.1% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

In terms of higher education, 68.0% of adult residents in Cary (25 and older) hold an associate degree or higher, and 60.7% of adults possess a baccalaureate degree or higher. Cary has the most Ph.D.s per capita in the U.S. for towns larger than 75,000 people. Cary has one of the lowest crime rates in the state for cities of its size.[3] The home ownership rate (owner-occupied housing units to total units) is 72.8%.

Despite its increasing size, Cary Town Council has elected to keep the designation of "town". The town's reputation as a bedroom community for transplants from outside the South has led to backronyms for its name such as "Concentrated Area of Relocated Yankees" or "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees" [8] One of the major reasons for the in-migration of educated Northerners is the proximity of Cary to the Research Triangle Park, and the many other localities hosting biotech, pharmaceutical and high tech companies. This has made it a popular location for relocating professionals.

In reality, many Cary residents are native to North Carolina. Indeed, data from the 2000 Census shows that 27,627 Cary residents were born in North Carolina and 17,125 more were born in other parts of the South. Meanwhile 19,324 were born in the Northeast, 11,573 were born in the Midwest and 4,163 were born in the West. The data shows that Cary is home to people from all over the country. Additionally, 13,203 Cary residents (or 14% of the town population) were born outside the US. 31.4% are now naturalized citizens. The most common places of birth for foreign-born residents are: India (18%), Mexico (13%), China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan (6%), Canada (6%), United Kingdom (4%), Taiwan (4%) and Germany