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.
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
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.