Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC moved from $59,740 in May 2024 to $60,720 in May 2025 (+1.6%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC sits -1.5 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education publishes $51,400 here versus $63,970 nationally (-19.6%; 2,430metro-area jobs). Next is Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists at $93,110 locally versus $78,760 nationally (+18.2%).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$51,400 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC sits 19.6% below the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (2,430 published local jobs).
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$93,110 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC sits 18.2% above the national Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists median of $78,760 (2,740 published local jobs).
- Computer User Support Specialists$71,750 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC sits 16.0% above the national Computer User Support Specialists median of $61,860 (2,090 published local jobs).
- Business Operations Specialists, All Other$95,460 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC sits 14.9% above the national Business Operations Specialists, All Other median of $83,050 (3,830 published local jobs).
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Durham-Chapel Hill, NC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 20500 · Durham-Chapel Hill, NC $76K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #15/528
- RPP-MID 97.6
- OCC-MOST 453 occs
- TOP-LEAD Chief Executives · $381K
- EMP-MIX Computer and…
- TREND-INLINE -1.5 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Hartford-West Ha…
- BOOK-FULL 435 rows · May 2025
Read with Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT (+$7 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
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 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Employment scale inside Durham-Chapel Hill, NC's top-pay list
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Managers, All Other lead published employment inside Durham-Chapel Hill, NC's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 4,170 jobs · $176,190
- 2. Managers, All Other 2,340 jobs · $152,090
- 3. Natural Sciences Managers 2,050 jobs · $183,540
- 4. Financial Managers 1,710 jobs · $165,470
- 5. Marketing Managers 1,230 jobs · $175,160
- 6. Sales Managers 1,150 jobs · $190,370
- 7. Pharmacists 1,150 jobs · $141,360
- 8. Computer Network Architects 970 jobs · $144,990
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 860 jobs · $172,480
- 10. Human Resources Managers 630 jobs · $160,580
- 11. Database Architects 560 jobs · $141,770
- 12. Computer Hardware Engineers 430 jobs · $175,110
- 13. Sales Engineers 330 jobs · $175,310
- 14. Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 290 jobs · $155,680
- 15. Purchasing Managers 250 jobs · $160,370
- 16. Dentists, General 200 jobs · $208,490
- 17. Chief Executives 140 jobs · $381,330
- 18. Economists 120 jobs · $152,130
Occupations Tracked
453
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$76,452
employment-weighted, 435 complete rows
Top Salary
$381,330
Chief Executives
Cost of Living
97.6
2% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Executives | $381,330 |
| 2 | Physicians, Pathologists | $272,300 |
| 3 | Family Medicine Physicians | $220,840 |
| 4 | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | $219,990 |
| 5 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $214,620 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $208,490 |
| 7 | Orthodontists | $199,990 |
| 8 | Sales Managers | $190,370 |
| 9 | Natural Sciences Managers | $183,540 |
| 10 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $176,190 |
| 11 | Sales Engineers | $175,310 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $175,160 |
| 13 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $175,110 |
| 14 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $172,480 |
| 15 | Psychiatrists | $170,600 |
| 16 | Optometrists | $166,880 |
| 17 | Financial Managers | $165,470 |
| 18 | Human Resources Managers | $160,580 |
| 19 | Purchasing Managers | $160,370 |
| 20 | Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $155,680 |
| 21 | Economists | $152,130 |
| 22 | Managers, All Other | $152,090 |
| 23 | Computer Network Architects | $144,990 |
| 24 | Database Architects | $141,770 |
| 25 | Pharmacists | $141,360 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Medical Transcriptionists | $26,850 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,280 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,410 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $27,470 |
| Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary | $29,090 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $29,120 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $29,170 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $29,190 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $29,440 |
| Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other | $29,900 |
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 ($76,452 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
What is the average salary in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC? ▼
Which published medians lead Durham-Chapel Hill, NC? ▼
What is the cost of living in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Durham-Chapel Hill, NC come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Durham-Chapel Hill, NC wage figures in a real decision
- Chief Executives leads published medians in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC at $381,330/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Chief Executives
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $76,452 adjusts to about $78,354 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 97.6. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for NC before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro 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.