Wilmington, NC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Wilmington, NC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Wilmington, NC moved from $44,470 in May 2024 to $45,800 in May 2025 (+3.0%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Wilmington, NC sits -0.1 pp near 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.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Wilmington, NC
Registered Nurses publishes $80,970 here versus $97,550 nationally (-17.0%; 5,040metro-area jobs). Next is Customer Service Representatives at $38,100 locally versus $44,770 nationally (-14.9%).
- Registered Nurses$80,970 in Wilmington, NC sits 17.0% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (5,040 published local jobs).
- Customer Service Representatives$38,100 in Wilmington, NC sits 14.9% below the national Customer Service Representatives median of $44,770 (2,850 published local jobs).
- General and Operations Managers$90,270 in Wilmington, NC sits 14.7% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (2,690 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$28,520 in Wilmington, NC sits 13.3% below the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (4,860 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Wilmington, NC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 48900 · Wilmington, NC $57K mean
MEAN-LOW · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-LOW #278/528
- RPP-MID 96.4
- OCC-MOST 411 occs
- TOP-LEAD Chief Executives · $299K
- EMP-MIX Sales Managers
- TREND-INLINE -0.1 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Lima, OH
- BOOK-FULL 403 rows · May 2025
Read with Lima, OH (+$5 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 Wilmington, NC
Employment scale inside Wilmington, NC's top-pay list
Sales Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Wilmington, NC's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Sales Managers 520 jobs · $133,400
- 2. Financial Managers 510 jobs · $152,150
- 3. Pharmacists 480 jobs · $151,790
- 4. Physicians, All Other 450 jobs · $252,960
- 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers 420 jobs · $160,980
- 6. Natural Sciences Managers 330 jobs · $166,910
- 7. Physician Assistants 270 jobs · $131,270
- 8. Industrial Production Managers 270 jobs · $130,690
- 9. Information Security Analysts 230 jobs · $145,170
- 10. Dentists, General 220 jobs · $185,720
- 11. Architectural and Engineering Managers 190 jobs · $169,810
- 12. Veterinarians 190 jobs · $131,670
- 13. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 170 jobs · $187,380
- 14. Marketing Managers 170 jobs · $153,860
- 15. Nurse Anesthetists 150 jobs · $218,830
- 16. Human Resources Managers 130 jobs · $140,960
- 17. Optometrists 120 jobs · $163,800
- 18. Nuclear Engineers 80 jobs · $129,710
Occupations Tracked
411
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$57,410
employment-weighted, 403 complete rows
Top Salary
$298,730
Chief Executives
Cost of Living
96.4
4% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Wilmington, NC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Executives | $298,730 |
| 2 | Physicians, All Other | $252,960 |
| 3 | Nurse Anesthetists | $218,830 |
| 4 | Family Medicine Physicians | $207,000 |
| 5 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $187,380 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $185,720 |
| 7 | Commercial Pilots | $172,320 |
| 8 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $169,810 |
| 9 | Natural Sciences Managers | $166,910 |
| 10 | Optometrists | $163,800 |
| 11 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $160,980 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $153,860 |
| 13 | Financial Managers | $152,150 |
| 14 | Pharmacists | $151,790 |
| 15 | Purchasing Managers | $145,730 |
| 16 | Information Security Analysts | $145,170 |
| 17 | Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary | $144,160 |
| 18 | Human Resources Managers | $140,960 |
| 19 | Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary | $139,410 |
| 20 | Sales Managers | $133,400 |
| 21 | Veterinarians | $131,670 |
| 22 | Database Architects | $131,470 |
| 23 | Physician Assistants | $131,270 |
| 24 | Industrial Production Managers | $130,690 |
| 25 | Nuclear Engineers | $129,710 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Wilmington, NC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $21,830 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,070 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,320 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,460 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $27,500 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,250 |
| Sewing Machine Operators | $28,510 |
| Cashiers | $28,520 |
| Funeral Attendants | $28,650 |
| Childcare Workers | $29,040 |
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 ($57,410 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 Wilmington, NC? ▼
Which published medians lead Wilmington, NC? ▼
What is the cost of living in Wilmington, NC? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Wilmington, NC come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Wilmington, NC wage figures in a real decision
- Chief Executives leads published medians in Wilmington, NC at $298,730/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Chief Executives
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $57,410 adjusts to about $59,540 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 96.4. 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.