Raleigh, NC (population: 421,938) has two culinary schools within its city limits. Mitchells Academy, the highest ranked school in the city with a culinary program, has a total student population of 146. It is the 1053rd highest ranked school in the USA and the 34th highest in the state of North Carolina (#1 is Duke University).
Culinary students from Raleigh schools who go on to become culinary artists, bakers, chefs, cooks, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 140,510 people working as bakers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $25,350. Also, Cooks, private household make on average $27,720 per year and there are about 770 of them employed in the US today.
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.
Of the 2 culinary schools in Raleigh, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Mitchells Academy comes out as the most expensive ($13,296/yr) for culinary students, with Wake Technical Community College as the lowest, reported at only $12,759/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 |