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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Cary ...

The town of Cary is primarily located in Chatham County<1>. A portion of Cary extends into Wake County.

Cary was established in 1750.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Cary has a population of 170,568 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Cary is 420 feet [128 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Cary lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Cary: 919 & 984<4>

The ZIP codes for Cary: 27511-27513, 27518-27519<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Cary had an population of 170,568 people. This is an increase of 26.13% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 80.43% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Cary had a population of 135,234 people (which is 211.82% of the total population of Chatham County). This makes Cary the county's most populous community.

The population of Cary represents 1.42% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 7th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 135,234 people, the population of Cary increased 43.05% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 94,536 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Cary.

Communities Also Named Cary ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Cary - they are located in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia (2), Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi and Missouri.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Cary.

Websites for Cary ...

Official Website:   www.townofcary.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.carychamber.com/

Communities near Cary ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Cary.

  • Raleigh
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Durham
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Chapel Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Holly Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Garner
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Fuquay - Varina
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Carrboro
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Knightdale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Angier
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Apex
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Apex is located in Wake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,388 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apex <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Cary. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Cary.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Cary. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cary.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Cary. See our Newspapers Page for Cary.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Cary ...

Looking for more information about Cary? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Cary, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Cary.

Adding Cary to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Cary in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Cary was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Cary post office opened in 1856.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Cary.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Chatham, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Cary.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Cary - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 919 code has been Overlayed with the 984 area code. New phone numbers in the Cary area will be assigned with one of these codes: 919 or 984. As a result, placing a call in the Cary area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a town (such as Cary). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Cary or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Cary includes: 27511, 27512, 27518 & 27519.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/