Raleigh Rising

First Google. Then Apple. Now an Amazon distribution campus. And next maybe Nike? With already record growth, here’s a look at Raleigh and the Triangle as major brands choose our land as the future.

“Think different.” One of the most recognizable slogans of the 21st century belongs to trailblazing tech icon Apple. And, now, that forward-thinking tech titan—who arguably transformed Silicon Valley into what it is today—has set its sights on Raleigh for its next hub.

Sure, Apple landing in RTP (with its cool $1 billion investment and mammoth 3,000-job campus) is hardly breaking news. Unless you’ve been taking a long summer slumber, you’ve no doubt heard the chatter.

But what you may not know is what that means. For starters, Apple’s local campus will be its largest on the East Coast. Its last landing pad was Austin—a city Raleigh is oft compared to (or said to be “chasing”) in rapid growth. And given that the Apple news comes alongside other goliath Google grabbing Durham as its landing pad, its arguably only when—not if—Raleigh will stop chasing, and finally catch (if not surpass) Austin.

And before Apple has even peeled off the sale sticker, so to speak, Wake County has eclipsed Mecklenburg County as the most populated in the state. Now on the heels of that news comes the May headline announcing Amazon’s selection of adjacent Johnston County for its $100 mill, 620,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment center in Smithfield. And quick to follow were super-recent rumblings of Nike assuming office space in Chapel Hill.

It’s a lot to process—but despite all the uncanny robust and rapid growth Raleigh and the Triangle have seen, it’s likely safe to say, “We ain’t seen nothing yet.” Here, we break down the latest by the numbers.