Jobs & Economy in Cary
Cary has a real, non-generic corporate anchor in SAS Institute, one of the largest privately held software companies in the world, and sits inside the broader Research Triangle Park tech and biotech economy -- a genuinely deeper local job base than a typical bedroom suburb, even though many residents still commute to jobs elsewhere in the Triangle.
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Learn moreSAS Institute: a real, long-standing headquarters anchor
SAS Institute, founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cary, employs roughly 12,327 people worldwide as of March 2026, per company-adjacent employment-data tracking. Within the immediate area, Cary itself is cited with about 1,300 SAS employees and Raleigh with about 1,700, with several hundred more spread across nearby Apex, Durham, Chapel Hill, Morrisville, and Wake Forest -- a real, geographically concentrated tech employment base centered on Cary specifically, not just proximity to a Raleigh-based employer.
A second notable Cary-based tech employer, and the broader RTP ecosystem
Epic Games, the video game and software company, is also cited as a major tech employer with a presence in Cary. More broadly, Cary sits adjacent to Research Triangle Park -- a 7,000-acre research and technology campus, the largest of its kind in the U.S., housing more than 300 companies and generating more than $6 billion in research activity annually. Major recent tech investment in the broader region includes Apple's $1 billion campus (3,000+ jobs) and Google's $1 billion engineering hub (1,000+ jobs), alongside Microsoft's regional software development center (2,500+ workers) -- more than 60,000 Triangle-area residents work in the technology sector overall, per regional economic-development sourcing.
Life sciences is a real, if secondary, sector presence
The broader Research Triangle region -- which Cary sits within -- is home to more than 775 life sciences companies generating over $2 billion annually, per regional business-development sourcing, reflecting RTP's historical biotech/pharmaceutical anchor alongside its tech-sector growth.
What this research pass could not confirm
A Cary-specific (as opposed to Wake County or metro-wide) unemployment rate was not independently confirmed with a precise 2026 figure this session -- this is disclosed as a research gap rather than substituted with a county or state-level number presented as Cary-specific.
Key takeaways
- SAS Institute -- one of the world's largest privately held software companies, founded 1976 and headquartered in Cary -- employs roughly 12,327 people worldwide as of March 2026, with about 1,300 based in Cary specifically and 1,700 in nearby Raleigh.
- Epic Games is also cited as a major Cary-area tech employer; the town sits adjacent to Research Triangle Park (7,000 acres, 300+ companies, $6B+ in annual research activity), with recent major regional tech investment including Apple ($1B campus, 3,000+ jobs) and Google ($1B hub, 1,000+ jobs).
- More than 60,000 Triangle-area residents work in technology, per regional economic-development sourcing, and the broader region hosts 775+ life sciences companies generating over $2 billion annually.
- A Cary-specific unemployment rate was not confirmed this research pass -- disclosed as a gap rather than substituted with a county or state figure presented as Cary-specific.
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