CognitiveAristocracy
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Overview / Regions / Raleigh-Durham

Raleigh-Durham

US Power #87/162Per-capita #20National view: United States →
Metro Power
42.5
of 100 · #87
MPI
42.5
MCC
60.0
MDI
58.3

Pillar profile

Talent60.4
Capital45.2
Research60.4
Infrastructure75.9
Agentic58.3

Indicators

  • Population (m)1.5
  • GDP ($bn)170
  • GDP per capita ($k)114.9
  • AI investment ($bn)6
  • Tech employment %17
  • AI talent68
  • Research strength85
  • Notable AI orgs18
  • Compute / data centers64
  • Broadband %94
  • Tertiary degree %48
  • Digital skills84
  • Startup ecosystem66
  • Agent adoption60
  • Patents / 100k175

Nearest peers

Metro report · generated from Raleigh-Durham's indicators

Raleigh-Durham — metro standing in full

Raleigh-Durham is the #76 metro by economic size ($170bn) in the panel and ranks #87/162 on absolute Metro Power and #20/162 on per-capita intensity. Its strongest pillar is Talent (60.4, Strong); no single pillar is a binding weakness. Locally it runs below the United States national average (MCC 60.0 vs CC 86.7).

National context: United States scores CC 86.7 per-capita; Raleigh-Durham sits at MCC 60.0.

Economic & scale context ● US Census ACS-1 2022 (population); GDP curated

GDP (metro)
$170bn
#76 of 162
GDP / capita
$115k
Population
1.5M
AI investment
$6.0bn
#32 of 162
Notable AI orgs
18

Index & pillar read

For each metro index and pillar: what it means when high (the value) versus low (the gap), and Raleigh-Durham's own standing.

Index / pillarValueStandingWhat a high vs low value means — and where Raleigh-Durham sits
MPI Metro Power42.5Moderate · #87/162Mid-pack. High would mean a heavyweight hub where capital, talent and AI organizations concentrate — it can anchor an entire national AI ecosystem; low would mean limited absolute weight — a smaller node that leans on capacity built in larger hubs.
▲ high: a heavyweight hub where capital, talent and AI organizations concentrate — it can anchor an entire national AI ecosystem  ·  ▼ low: limited absolute weight — a smaller node that leans on capacity built in larger hubs
MCC Metro Coefficient60.0Strong · #20/162High here — deep capability per resident — a concentrated, high-intensity ecosystem.
▲ high: deep capability per resident — a concentrated, high-intensity ecosystem  ·  ▼ low: thin intensity per resident — capability is sparse relative to the population
MDI Metro Agentic58.3Strong · #19/162High here — agents are widely deployed locally — a near-term productivity multiplier.
▲ high: agents are widely deployed locally — a near-term productivity multiplier  ·  ▼ low: agentic deployment is shallow — the local agent lever is under-used
Talent Talent60.4Strong · #18/162High here — a deep talent pool — the scarcest input to building AI.
▲ high: a deep talent pool — the scarcest input to building AI  ·  ▼ low: a shallow talent base that constrains how much can be built locally
Capital Capital45.2Strong · #29/162High here — abundant capital flowing into building cognitive infrastructure.
▲ high: abundant capital flowing into building cognitive infrastructure  ·  ▼ low: thin investment — good ideas struggle to scale locally
Research Research60.4Strong · #23/162High here — a strong research base feeding a pipeline of ideas and people.
▲ high: a strong research base feeding a pipeline of ideas and people  ·  ▼ low: a weak research base — fewer home-grown breakthroughs and spinouts
Infrastructure Infrastructure75.9Strong · #31/162High here — the physical and digital rails to run AI at scale are in place.
▲ high: the physical and digital rails to run AI at scale are in place  ·  ▼ low: infrastructure gaps cap how much AI can actually be run locally
Agentic Agentic58.3Strong · #19/162High here — agents are actively deployed — an early-mover productivity edge.
▲ high: agents are actively deployed — an early-mover productivity edge  ·  ▼ low: little agentic deployment — the near-term lever is unused

Strengths to build on

  • Talent (60.4, Strong) — a deep talent pool — the scarcest input to building AI.
  • Agentic (58.3, Strong) — agents are actively deployed — an early-mover productivity edge.
  • Research (60.4, Strong) — a strong research base feeding a pipeline of ideas and people.

Risk factors

  • Depth without scale — high per-capita intensity (MCC #20) but limited absolute weight (MPI #87): dense per resident, but small in total.
Metro values are curated estimates (v1) on a consistent global scale — not yet measured sub-national data.