1. Set the Raleigh geography before reading the numbers
Raleigh is recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau as a municipality in North Carolina. The 2020–2024 ACS five-year estimate lists 481,031 residents, with a margin of error of 391, and records relationships with Durham County and Wake County. That is geographic context, not evidence of search demand, competition, leads, cases or revenue. Your dashboard should therefore distinguish Raleigh from county-level and broader metropolitan reporting rather than treating every nearby inquiry as a Raleigh result. Ask which service-and-city targets are being tracked, how location is assigned to a lead, and whether a report is showing a municipality, county or another defined area.
Recommended approach
During evaluation, write the geographic rule beside every location metric. Decide whether a lead is attributed by search location, landing-page location, caller location, office location or another documented rule. Keep Raleigh, Durham County, Wake County and any wider market views separate until the firm approves the definitions.
