Winston-Salem, NC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Winston-Salem, NC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Winston-Salem, NC moved from $45,050 in May 2024 to $46,380 in May 2025 (+3.0%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Winston-Salem, 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.
Substitute Teachers, Short-Term shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Winston-Salem, NC
Substitute Teachers, Short-Term publishes $31,470 here versus $41,670 nationally (-24.5%; 2,370metro-area jobs). Next is Waiters and Waitresses at $29,550 locally versus $35,230 nationally (-16.1%).
- Substitute Teachers, Short-Term$31,470 in Winston-Salem, NC sits 24.5% below the national Substitute Teachers, Short-Term median of $41,670 (2,370 published local jobs).
- Waiters and Waitresses$29,550 in Winston-Salem, NC sits 16.1% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (3,940 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$30,400 in Winston-Salem, NC sits 15.1% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (3,480 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$30,100 in Winston-Salem, NC sits 15.0% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (6,790 published local jobs).
Substitute Teachers, Short-Term and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Winston-Salem, NC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 49180 · Winston-Salem, NC $58K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #253/528
- RPP-LOW 92.0
- OCC-MOST 467 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $319K
- EMP-MIX Pharmacists
- TREND-INLINE -0.1 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Lawrence, KS
- BOOK-FULL 449 rows · May 2025
Read with Lawrence, KS (+$12 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 Winston-Salem, NC
Employment scale inside Winston-Salem, NC's top-pay list
Pharmacists and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Winston-Salem, NC's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Pharmacists 1,010 jobs · $135,710
- 2. Financial Managers 980 jobs · $155,030
- 3. Nurse Practitioners 750 jobs · $130,840
- 4. Physician Assistants 730 jobs · $130,730
- 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers 700 jobs · $160,900
- 6. Sales Managers 690 jobs · $132,550
- 7. Nurse Anesthetists 440 jobs · $216,140
- 8. Marketing Managers 440 jobs · $160,570
- 9. Human Resources Managers 320 jobs · $137,110
- 10. Information Security Analysts 280 jobs · $129,980
- 11. Dentists, General 230 jobs · $168,700
- 12. Natural Sciences Managers 220 jobs · $148,710
- 13. Architectural and Engineering Managers 200 jobs · $155,200
- 14. Financial Risk Specialists 180 jobs · $131,630
- 15. Public Relations Managers 100 jobs · $140,680
- 16. General Internal Medicine Physicians 80 jobs · $293,840
- 17. Chief Executives 80 jobs · $273,710
- 18. Optometrists 70 jobs · $162,540
Occupations Tracked
467
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$58,267
employment-weighted, 449 complete rows
Top Salary
$319,170
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
92.0
8% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Winston-Salem, NC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $319,170 |
| 2 | Radiologists | $317,250 |
| 3 | Family Medicine Physicians | $309,990 |
| 4 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $293,840 |
| 5 | Chief Executives | $273,710 |
| 6 | Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric | $258,750 |
| 7 | Nurse Anesthetists | $216,140 |
| 8 | Dentists, General | $168,700 |
| 9 | Optometrists | $162,540 |
| 10 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $160,900 |
| 11 | Marketing Managers | $160,570 |
| 12 | Fundraising Managers | $158,460 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $155,200 |
| 14 | Financial Managers | $155,030 |
| 15 | Natural Sciences Managers | $148,710 |
| 16 | Public Relations Managers | $140,680 |
| 17 | Commercial Pilots | $137,180 |
| 18 | Human Resources Managers | $137,110 |
| 19 | Pharmacists | $135,710 |
| 20 | Sales Managers | $132,550 |
| 21 | Financial Risk Specialists | $131,630 |
| 22 | Nurse Practitioners | $130,840 |
| 23 | Physician Assistants | $130,730 |
| 24 | Information Security Analysts | $129,980 |
| 25 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $129,580 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Winston-Salem, NC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Information and Record Clerks, All Other | $23,750 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $26,300 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $26,380 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,100 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,250 |
| Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other | $27,260 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $27,280 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $27,930 |
| Cashiers | $28,130 |
| Parking Attendants | $28,310 |
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 ($58,267 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 Winston-Salem, NC? ▼
Which published medians lead Winston-Salem, NC? ▼
What is the cost of living in Winston-Salem, NC? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Winston-Salem, NC come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Winston-Salem, NC wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Winston-Salem, NC at $319,170/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $58,267 adjusts to about $63,304 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 92.0. 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.