Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Across all occupations in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC metropolitan area, the median wage is $60,720 a year ($29.19 an hour) and the mean $79,700, May 2025. That median is +19% against the US median of $50,980 and +27% against North Carolina's $47,970. BLS counts 344,020 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is chief executives; the largest is software developers.

All occupations: Durham-Chapel Hill, NC vs North Carolina and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area, North Carolina and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	Hourly	$14.87	$19.23	$29.19	$48.14	$75.96	$38.32	344,020
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	Annual	$30,930	$39,990	$60,720	$100,130	$157,990	$79,700	344,020
North Carolina	Hourly	$13.74	$17.32	$23.06	$36.35	$57.52	$30.91	4,941,820
North Carolina	Annual	$28,580	$36,030	$47,970	$75,610	$119,640	$64,290	4,941,820
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

454 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: North Carolina. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Chief Executives	$381,330	$183.33	140
2	Physicians, Pathologists	$272,300	$130.92	30
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$220,840	$106.18	**
4	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	$219,990	$105.77	**
5	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$214,620	$103.18	40
6	Dentists, General	$208,490	$100.24	200
7	Orthodontists	$199,990	$96.15	**
8	Sales Managers in North Carolina	$190,370	$91.52	1,150
9	Natural Sciences Managers	$183,540	$88.24	2,050
10	Computer and Information Systems Managers in North Carolina	$176,190	$84.71	4,170
11	Sales Engineers	$175,310	$84.29	330
12	Marketing Managers	$175,160	$84.21	1,230
13	Computer Hardware Engineers	$175,110	$84.19	430
14	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$172,480	$82.92	860
15	Psychiatrists	$170,600	$82.02	40
16	Optometrists	$166,880	$80.23	40
17	Financial Managers in North Carolina	$165,470	$79.55	1,710
18	Human Resources Managers	$160,580	$77.20	630
19	Purchasing Managers	$160,370	$77.10	250
20	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer	$155,680	$74.85	290

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Software Developers in North Carolina	9,790	28.47	2.62	$135,620
2	Retail Salespersons in North Carolina	5,850	17.01	0.68	$31,790
3	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in North Carolina	5,820	16.93	2.74	$46,860
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in North Carolina	5,350	15.57	0.63	$29,170
5	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in North Carolina	5,250	15.25	0.80	$37,750
6	Cashiers in North Carolina	4,840	14.08	0.71	$29,920
7	Nursing Assistants in North Carolina	4,830	14.03	1.51	$40,560
8	Customer Service Representatives in North Carolina	4,660	13.55	0.81	$46,800
9	Cooks, Fast Food in North Carolina	4,520	13.13	3.18	$29,190
10	Office Clerks, General in North Carolina	4,180	12.16	0.77	$47,010
11	Computer and Information Systems Managers in North Carolina	4,170	12.13	2.81	$176,190
12	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in North Carolina	3,830	11.14	1.59	$95,460
13	Stockers and Order Fillers in North Carolina	3,690	10.73	0.59	$36,410
14	Waiters and Waitresses in North Carolina	3,560	10.35	0.71	$35,230
15	General and Operations Managers in North Carolina	3,400	9.88	0.44	$113,930
16	Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in North Carolina	3,300	9.58	1.19	$72,460
17	Project Management Specialists in North Carolina	3,180	9.25	1.35	$104,870
18	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in North Carolina	3,150	9.15	0.64	$36,590
19	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in North Carolina	3,120	9.07	0.83	$47,840
20	Accountants and Auditors in North Carolina	3,060	8.91	0.96	$85,090

Most concentrated occupations in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Life Scientists, All Other	28.02	460	1.34	$105,850
2	Biological Scientists, All Other	11.28	1,390	4.05	$98,700
3	Microbiologists	9.58	400	1.17	$85,860
4	Statisticians	9.34	600	1.74	$103,290
5	Natural Sciences Managers	8.52	2,050	5.96	$183,540
6	Physical Scientists, All Other	7.46	370	1.07	$128,380
7	Biological Technicians	6.74	1,040	3.02	$58,400
8	Chemists	6.24	1,140	3.32	$81,580
9	Materials Scientists	6.06	110	0.33	$123,070
10	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	5.88	2,240	6.52	$96,430

Occupation groups in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$139,480	$160,390	28,150	81.81	1.14
Computer and Mathematical	$130,020	$128,560	25,070	72.88	2.15
Architecture and Engineering	$99,240	$109,510	7,690	22.36	1.33
Business and Financial Operations	$85,620	$99,010	27,010	78.52	1.16
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$82,090	$100,190	36,330	105.61	1.67
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$80,140	$90,560	13,460	39.13	4.13
Legal	$78,170	$116,230	2,240	6.52	0.78
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$63,940	$77,430	4,540	13.20	1.00
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,760	$80,150	29,220	84.94	1.45
Community and Social Service	$59,550	$62,710	5,470	15.89	0.93
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$59,030	$60,040	9,840	28.59	0.73
Construction and Extraction	$52,640	$57,190	7,540	21.91	0.53
Office and Administrative Support	$47,840	$50,590	33,760	98.12	0.86
Production	$45,760	$50,290	13,430	39.05	0.71
Protective Service	$45,410	$50,180	5,720	16.62	0.68
Sales and Related	$42,380	$63,960	23,930	69.56	0.81
Transportation and Material Moving	$39,850	$42,830	18,620	54.13	0.62
Healthcare Support	$39,590	$42,430	12,460	36.21	0.71
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$37,890	$42,190	220	0.65	0.23
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,770	$39,490	8,470	24.62	0.84
Personal Care and Service	$36,600	$41,450	5,890	17.13	0.82
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$30,860	$34,970	24,960	72.56	0.82

Every occupation in North Carolina, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 454 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Durham-Chapel Hill, NC estimates (area 20500).

**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.