Fayetteville, NC

Across all occupations in the Fayetteville, NC metropolitan area, the median wage is $45,620 a year ($21.93 an hour) and the mean $58,170, May 2025. That median is −11% against the US median of $50,980 and −5% against North Carolina's $47,970. BLS counts 131,430 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is nurse anesthetists; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Fayetteville, NC vs North Carolina and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Fayetteville, NC area, North Carolina and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Fayetteville, NC	Hourly	$12.86	$16.10	$21.93	$32.60	$49.68	$27.96	131,430
Fayetteville, NC	Annual	$26,740	$33,480	$45,620	$67,810	$103,330	$58,170	131,430
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.

328 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 Fayetteville, NC

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$331,760	$159.50	90
2	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$243,080	$116.87	40
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$204,470	$98.30	50
4	Dentists, General	$196,470	$94.46	110
5	Natural Sciences Managers	$165,260	$79.45	50
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$159,730	$76.79	80
7	Psychiatrists	$155,250	$74.64	40
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers in North Carolina	$151,490	$72.83	260
9	Purchasing Managers	$147,370	$70.85	30
10	Marketing Managers	$140,730	$67.66	70
11	Pharmacists	$140,220	$67.42	400
12	Financial Managers in North Carolina	$138,040	$66.36	250
13	Physician Assistants	$134,300	$64.57	220
14	Managers, All Other in North Carolina	$132,180	$63.55	550
15	Psychologists, All Other	$129,830	$62.42	50
16	Human Resources Managers	$128,540	$61.80	90
17	Veterinarians	$128,190	$61.63	60
18	Commercial Pilots	$128,170	*	40
19	Engineers, All Other	$125,980	$60.57	80
20	Software Developers in North Carolina	$122,900	$59.09	420

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 Fayetteville, NC

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in North Carolina	4,240	32.25	1.29	$30,440
2	Cooks, Fast Food in North Carolina	3,890	29.63	7.19	$23,430
3	Registered Nurses in North Carolina	3,430	26.08	1.20	$83,060
4	Cashiers in North Carolina	3,400	25.83	1.30	$27,390
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in North Carolina	3,130	23.81	0.96	$28,170
6	Stockers and Order Fillers in North Carolina	3,060	23.29	1.28	$35,000
7	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in North Carolina	2,470	18.82	0.99	$37,500
8	Office Clerks, General in North Carolina	2,290	17.43	1.10	$43,170
9	Nursing Assistants in North Carolina	2,130	16.20	1.74	$37,530
10	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in North Carolina	2,030	15.43	2.21	$95,620
11	Waiters and Waitresses in North Carolina	1,980	15.10	1.03	$29,520
12	Customer Service Representatives in North Carolina	1,890	14.39	0.86	$35,130
13	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in North Carolina	1,770	13.44	0.49	$29,150
14	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in North Carolina	1,700	12.94	2.09	$37,600
15	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in North Carolina	1,610	12.26	0.86	$34,230
16	General and Operations Managers in North Carolina	1,490	11.37	0.50	$96,970
16	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in North Carolina	1,490	11.33	1.27	$54,350
18	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in North Carolina	1,400	10.65	0.80	$49,980
19	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in North Carolina	1,280	9.76	1.24	$38,760
19	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in North Carolina	1,280	9.70	1.35	$46,510

Most concentrated occupations in Fayetteville, 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	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other	9.25	290	2.21	$107,950
2	Education Administrators, All Other	9.01	420	3.20	$111,320
3	Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary	8.03	770	5.89	$82,010
4	Cooks, Fast Food in North Carolina	7.19	3,890	29.63	$23,430
5	Teachers and Instructors, All Other	6.43	620	4.71	$77,210
6	Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators	5.39	480	3.65	$56,390
7	Budget Analysts	5.21	210	1.58	$101,360
8	Healthcare Support Workers, All Other	4.38	410	3.09	$57,390
9	Pipelayers	4.02	110	0.85	$46,410
10	Interpreters and Translators	3.75	160	1.26	*

Occupation groups in Fayetteville, NC

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$105,260	$116,240	6,730	51.21	0.72
Computer and Mathematical	$93,460	$93,260	3,220	24.47	0.72
Architecture and Engineering	$84,930	$90,650	1,170	8.92	0.53
Business and Financial Operations	$82,350	$87,370	8,330	63.41	0.94
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$81,240	$107,740	10,920	83.11	1.32
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$80,830	$87,560	1,230	9.38	0.99
Legal	$65,160	$89,080	770	5.90	0.70
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$58,760	$67,690	1,170	8.87	0.67
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$55,210	$56,710	6,260	47.61	1.22
Community and Social Service	$53,110	$56,760	2,420	18.39	1.07
Construction and Extraction	$48,740	$53,700	4,510	34.32	0.83
Educational Instruction and Library	$47,690	$53,140	9,380	71.35	1.22
Protective Service	$47,100	$51,070	3,450	26.24	1.08
Production	$45,980	$51,880	5,620	42.77	0.78
Office and Administrative Support	$43,520	$45,590	14,520	110.51	0.97
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$38,740	$39,790	110	0.86	0.31
Transportation and Material Moving	$37,630	$41,290	12,130	92.31	1.05
Healthcare Support	$36,870	$39,240	6,280	47.77	0.94
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$34,250	$35,280	3,670	27.92	0.95
Sales and Related	$33,100	$41,420	12,440	94.68	1.10
Personal Care and Service	$32,720	$36,060	2,370	18.05	0.86
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$27,970	$30,610	14,720	111.97	1.27

Every occupation in North Carolina, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 328 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 Fayetteville, NC estimates (area 22180).

*: Wage 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 Fayetteville, 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.