Raleigh, NC (population: 421,938) has five computer information systems schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Edgecombe Community College, the highest ranked school in this group with a computer information systems program, has a total student population of 3,249. It is the 4011th highest ranked school in the USA and the 74th highest in the state of North Carolina (#1 is Duke University).
Computer Information Systems students from Raleigh schools who go on to become computer information systems specialists, computer support specialists, network engineers, database engineers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 287,210 people working as computer and information systems managers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $120,640. Also, Computer support specialists make on average $47,360 per year and there are about 540,560 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Raleigh-Cary area alone, there are 3,610 employed computer support specialists earning an average salary of $49,300. Computer and information systems managers in this area earn $116,290/yr and there are 2,380 employed.
Raleigh lies in Wake county, which is one of the 64 counties in North Carolina. Overall, the Raleigh-Cary area has 499,330 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $20.85/hr average worker wage, and a $43,370 average annual salary. Thus, about 4.765 out of every 1000 jobs in Raleigh are held by computer and information systems managers, and 7.236/1000 are held by computer support specialists.
Of the 5 computer information systems schools with a 100-mile radius of Raleigh, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Fayetteville Technical Community College comes out as the most expensive ($13,508/yr) for computer information systems students, with Robeson Community College as the lowest, reported at only $2,229/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Raleigh |
| Cary | NC | 145,939 | 1 | 22.8054 | 14 | 8.3 miles |
| Durham | NC | 235,337 | 9 | 27.0185 | 371 | 17.9 miles |
| Chapel Hill | NC | 53,800 | 1 | 88.0971 | 148 | 22.6 miles |
| Wilson | NC | 49,786 | 3 | 25.177 | 101 | 42.0 miles |
| Burlington | NC | 53,389 | 3 | 40.9051 | 223 | 47.8 miles |
| Rocky Mount | NC | 57,428 | 2 | 10.9274 | 84 | 48.6 miles |
| Fayetteville | NC | 177,632 | 7 | 29.3341 | 376 | 53.6 miles |
| Tarboro | NC | - | 1 | 20.0774 | 40 | 63.2 miles |
| Greensboro | NC | 259,523 | 7 | 44.9987 | 387 | 67.9 miles |
| Weldon | NC | - | 1 | 13.6824 | 51 | 72.8 miles |
| Greenville | NC | 85,963 | 10 | 31.6955 | 630 | 74.0 miles |
| Wentworth | NC | - | 1 | 11.7821 | 42 | 74.1 miles |
| High Point | NC | 105,064 | 3 | 31.8326 | 88 | 75.9 miles |
| Alberta | VA | - | 1 | 15.5248 | 32 | 84.2 miles |
| Pembroke | NC | - | 1 | 53.5737 | 73 | 84.4 miles |
| Laurinburg | NC | - | 1 | 18.8047 | 40 | 85.4 miles |
| Martinsville | VA | - | 1 | 12.8903 | 37 | 90.6 miles |
| Winston Salem | NC | - | 7 | 32.3218 | 230 | 90.8 miles |
| Misenheimer | NC | - | 1 | 21.9215 | 70 | 94.4 miles |