Durham Overview & Facts

Durham is a creative, innovative community that is always doing something new. It occupies a prime location in the heart of North Carolina and is a nexus for learning, creativity, research, and industry. Whether you're a resident, visitor, group planner, newcomer, journalist, or consultant, these official stats, facts, and images provide helpful information about the Bull City.

300+ Great Things about Durham

More than 300 reasons to visit, reside in, and do business in Durham.

Research & Statistics

Demographics, charts, white papers, local government performance indicators, RTP, and RDU statistics.

Online Image Library

Searchable inventory of hundreds of high-res images of Durham for promotional use.

Durham Accolades

Superlatives and national rankings for Durham.

Quick Facts

Durham is home to Research Triangle Park, Duke and North Carolina Central Universities, and many City of Medicine, USA medical and weight management centers.

 

Education

In addition to Duke and NCCU, Durham is home to North Carolina School of Science & Math, Durham Technical Community College, many private schools, and Durham Public Schools, the eighth largest school district in the state.

Triangle

Use of the term "Triangle" or "Research Triangle"

The term "Triangle" was first coined to refer to an area anchored by three major universities: Duke University in Durham (and later North Carolina Central University), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The three joined in the 1950s to help create Research Triangle Park, centered in Southeast Durham.

Today, the term is used to refer to the region comprised of the two metropolitan statistical areas surrounding Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill.

Durham and Raleigh

"Raleigh-Durham" is the name of the airport that serves two distinct metropolitan statistical areas - one centered around Durham, NC, and another called Raleigh-Cary. The airport is co-owned by the cities of Durham and Raleigh, along with Durham and Wake Counties. RDU is located at the western edge of Wake County, midway between the cities of Durham and Raleigh.

Raleigh-Durham is also a misused shorthand term for the two-metro Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill combined statistical area or the 22-county Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville television and radio coverage area.

The Piedmont

Twenty-three miles from the Virginia border, Durham is in the northeast corner of North Carolina's central piedmont, a geographic foothills region lying between mountains and coastal plains. Durham is 140 miles from the Appalachian highlands and 130 miles from the coast.

North Carolina

  • Nicknamed the "Old North State" - a reference that originated with the division of the Carolinas in 1710.

  • First of the original 13 colonies to vote for independence.

  • 52,660 square miles.

  • 9,535,483 residents.

  • North Carolinians are sometimes called Tar Heels, a nickname that dates back to pre-Revolutionary days, when tar, pitch, and turpentine were extracted from North Carolina pine forests for British naval stores.

 

 

 

Durham, NC Facts (Source:wikipedia)
Counties:   Durham, Wake, Orange
Incorporated:     April 10, 1869[3]
Named for:     Bartlett S. Durham
Government
 • Type:     Council-Manager
 • Mayor:     Bill Bell
 • City Manager:     Tom Bonfield
 • Deputy City Managers:     W. Bowman "Bo" Ferguson, Wanda Page, Keith Chadwell
Area
 • City     108.3 sq mi (280.4 km2)
 • Land     107.4 sq mi (278.1 km2)
 • Water     0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Elevation     404 ft (123 m)
Population (2014 est.)
 • City     251,893 (US: 81st)
 • Density     2,346/sq mi (905.8/km2)
 • Metro     542,710 (US: 100th)
 • CSA     2,037,430
Time zone     EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST)     EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes     27701, 27702, 27703, 27704, 27705, 27706, 27707, 27708, 27709, 27710, 27711, 27712, 27713, 27715, 27717, 27722
Area code(s)     919
Website     durhamnc.gov