Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area Salaries
BLS nonmetropolitan reporting area wages for Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area (May 2025)
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education publishes $47,360 here versus $63,970 nationally (-26.0%; 4,280metro-area jobs). Next is Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education at $53,490 locally versus $72,040 nationally (-25.7%).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$47,360 in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area sits 26.0% below the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (4,280 published local jobs).
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$53,490 in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area sits 25.7% below the national Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education median of $72,040 (2,080 published local jobs).
- Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary$28,030 in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area sits 23.8% below the national Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $36,780 (3,510 published local jobs).
- Cooks, Fast Food$23,690 in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area sits 23.3% below the national Cooks, Fast Food median of $30,890 (5,070 published local jobs).
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 3700002 · Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area $50K mean
MEAN-TRACE · RPP-UNK · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-UNK · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-TRACE #472/528
- RPP-UNK RPP n/a
- OCC-MOST 438 occs
- TOP-LEAD Nurse Anesthet… · $285K
- EMP-MIX Industrial P…
- TREND-UNK Pay chg n/a
- PHOTO-FINISH West Tennessee n…
- BOOK-FULL 426 rows · May 2025
Read with West Tennessee nonmetropolitan area (+$19 on published-row mean) · Understanding BLS wage data
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Central North Carolina nonm…
Largest published OEWS rows in this nonmetropolitan area
Industrial Production Managers and Pharmacists lead published employment inside Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Industrial Production Managers 700 jobs · $117,620
- 2. Pharmacists 510 jobs · $132,130
- 3. Financial Managers 420 jobs · $123,550
- 4. Software Developers 340 jobs · $123,490
- 5. Physician Assistants 340 jobs · $114,990
- 6. Physicians, All Other 310 jobs · $264,260
- 7. Computer and Information Systems Managers 270 jobs · $146,480
- 8. Nurse Practitioners 260 jobs · $126,670
- 9. Facilities Managers 190 jobs · $111,500
- 10. Human Resources Managers 170 jobs · $116,770
- 11. Architectural and Engineering Managers 150 jobs · $154,340
- 12. Dentists, General 140 jobs · $207,000
- 13. Electrical Engineers 120 jobs · $126,030
- 14. Marketing Managers 110 jobs · $163,160
- 15. Family Medicine Physicians 100 jobs · $174,990
- 16. Veterinarians 90 jobs · $119,930
- 17. Purchasing Managers 80 jobs · $118,930
- 18. Natural Sciences Managers 70 jobs · $153,140
Occupations Tracked
438
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$50,435
employment-weighted, 426 complete rows
Top Salary
$285,030
Nurse Anesthetists
Top-pay occupations in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Industrial Production Managers | $117,620 |
| 2 | Pharmacists | $132,130 |
| 3 | Financial Managers | $123,550 |
| 4 | Software Developers | $123,490 |
| 5 | Physician Assistants | $114,990 |
| 6 | Physicians, All Other | $264,260 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $146,480 |
| 8 | Nurse Practitioners | $126,670 |
| 9 | Facilities Managers | $111,500 |
| 10 | Human Resources Managers | $116,770 |
| 11 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $154,340 |
| 12 | Dentists, General | $207,000 |
| 13 | Electrical Engineers | $126,030 |
| 14 | Marketing Managers | $163,160 |
| 15 | Family Medicine Physicians | $174,990 |
| 16 | Veterinarians | $119,930 |
| 17 | Purchasing Managers | $118,930 |
| 18 | Natural Sciences Managers | $153,140 |
| 19 | Psychiatrists | $254,660 |
| 20 | Nurse Anesthetists | $285,030 |
| 21 | Chief Executives | $208,020 |
| 22 | Optometrists | $157,380 |
| 23 | Psychologists, All Other | $142,600 |
| 24 | Training and Development Managers | $111,130 |
| 25 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $208,510 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Central North Carolina nonmetropolitan area
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials | $16,790 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $20,800 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $22,210 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $23,660 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $23,690 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $24,210 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $25,900 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $26,370 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $26,430 |
| Dishwashers | $27,190 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in NC
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside NC. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($50,435 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The local-area benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.