Raleigh-Cary, NC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Raleigh-Cary, NC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Raleigh-Cary, NC moved from $49,560 in May 2024 to $51,990 in May 2025 (+4.9%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Raleigh-Cary, NC sits +1.8 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Firefighters shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Raleigh-Cary, NC
Firefighters publishes $45,640 here versus $59,280 nationally (-23.0%; 2,510metro-area jobs). Next is Bus Drivers, School at $38,530 locally versus $47,920 nationally (-19.6%).
- Firefighters$45,640 in Raleigh-Cary, NC sits 23.0% below the national Firefighters median of $59,280 (2,510 published local jobs).
- Bus Drivers, School$38,530 in Raleigh-Cary, NC sits 19.6% below the national Bus Drivers, School median of $47,920 (2,120 published local jobs).
- Childcare Workers$28,680 in Raleigh-Cary, NC sits 18.0% below the national Childcare Workers median of $34,980 (2,070 published local jobs).
- Lawyers$131,920 in Raleigh-Cary, NC sits 17.4% below the national Lawyers median of $159,670 (4,350 published local jobs).
Firefighters and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Raleigh-Cary, NC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 39580 · Raleigh-Cary, NC $70K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #47/528
- RPP-MID 98.2
- OCC-MOST 568 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $354K
- EMP-MIX Computer and…
- TREND-INLINE +1.8 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Charlottesville,…
- BOOK-FULL 544 rows · May 2025
Read with Charlottesville, VA ($247 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 Raleigh-Cary, NC
Employment scale inside Raleigh-Cary, NC's top-pay list
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Managers, All Other lead published employment inside Raleigh-Cary, NC's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 6,010 jobs · $173,960
- 2. Managers, All Other 4,320 jobs · $147,370
- 3. Financial Managers 3,690 jobs · $163,130
- 4. Sales Managers 3,280 jobs · $163,520
- 5. Information Security Analysts 2,510 jobs · $143,640
- 6. Marketing Managers 2,390 jobs · $167,640
- 7. Architectural and Engineering Managers 1,850 jobs · $169,780
- 8. Natural Sciences Managers 1,640 jobs · $173,510
- 9. Physicians, All Other 1,190 jobs · $354,130
- 10. Human Resources Managers 1,080 jobs · $144,190
- 11. Dentists, General 1,000 jobs · $207,380
- 12. Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 510 jobs · $162,800
- 13. Purchasing Managers 500 jobs · $139,050
- 14. General Internal Medicine Physicians 440 jobs · $291,060
- 15. Chief Executives 360 jobs · $286,050
- 16. Optometrists 240 jobs · $163,290
- 17. Pediatricians, General 220 jobs · $214,680
- 18. Statisticians 210 jobs · $152,880
Occupations Tracked
568
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$69,781
employment-weighted, 544 complete rows
Top Salary
$354,130
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
98.2
2% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Raleigh-Cary, NC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $354,130 |
| 2 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $291,060 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $286,050 |
| 4 | Family Medicine Physicians | $218,830 |
| 5 | Pediatricians, General | $214,680 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $207,380 |
| 7 | Podiatrists | $185,800 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $173,960 |
| 9 | Natural Sciences Managers | $173,510 |
| 10 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $169,780 |
| 11 | Psychiatrists | $168,880 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $167,640 |
| 13 | Sales Managers | $163,520 |
| 14 | Optometrists | $163,290 |
| 15 | Financial Managers | $163,130 |
| 16 | Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $162,800 |
| 17 | Nurse Anesthetists | $155,250 |
| 18 | Psychologists, All Other | $152,980 |
| 19 | Statisticians | $152,880 |
| 20 | Managers, All Other | $147,370 |
| 21 | Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other | $147,370 |
| 22 | Human Resources Managers | $144,190 |
| 23 | Information Security Analysts | $143,640 |
| 24 | Actuaries | $142,180 |
| 25 | Purchasing Managers | $139,050 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Raleigh-Cary, NC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $24,960 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,380 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $27,940 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $28,220 |
| Childcare Workers | $28,680 |
| Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other | $29,000 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $29,080 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $29,150 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | $29,380 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $29,390 |
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 ($69,781 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 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.