Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Across all occupations in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metropolitan area, the median wage is $45,220 a year ($21.74 an hour) and the mean $54,360, May 2025. That median is −11% against the US median of $50,980 and −6% against North Carolina's $47,970. BLS counts 154,090 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is physicians, all other; the largest is laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand.

All occupations: Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC vs North Carolina and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC area, North Carolina and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	Hourly	$13.47	$16.86	$21.74	$29.16	$41.26	$26.14	154,090
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	Annual	$28,020	$35,080	$45,220	$60,650	$85,830	$54,360	154,090
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.

385 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 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Physicians, All Other	$313,460	$150.70	380
2	Chief Executives	$312,730	$150.35	50
3	Nurse Anesthetists	$213,630	$102.71	120
4	Family Medicine Physicians	$206,360	$99.21	30
5	Dentists, General	$193,320	$92.94	130
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$170,730	$82.08	200
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers in North Carolina	$163,010	$78.37	220
8	Natural Sciences Managers	$162,690	$78.21	40
9	Marketing Managers	$151,190	$72.69	200
10	Financial Managers in North Carolina	$138,150	$66.42	310
11	Pharmacists	$137,180	$65.95	330
12	Optometrists	$136,920	$65.83	40
13	Purchasing Managers	$132,570	$63.74	80
14	Sales Managers in North Carolina	$132,060	$63.49	360
15	Physician Assistants	$127,210	$61.16	190
16	Nurse Practitioners	$126,620	$60.87	300
17	Engineers, All Other	$125,160	$60.18	60
18	Veterinarians	$124,970	$60.08	70
19	Industrial Production Managers	$124,290	$59.75	640
20	Software Developers in North Carolina	$122,540	$58.91	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 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in North Carolina	4,850	31.50	1.66	$40,240
2	Retail Salespersons in North Carolina	4,000	25.99	1.04	$30,520
3	Stockers and Order Fillers in North Carolina	3,500	22.72	1.25	$38,130
4	Cashiers in North Carolina	3,470	22.52	1.13	$27,570
5	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in North Carolina	3,190	20.68	2.29	$42,770
6	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in North Carolina	3,050	19.79	1.49	$57,460
7	Registered Nurses in North Carolina	3,020	19.61	0.90	$80,060
8	Fast Food and Counter Workers in North Carolina	2,930	19.00	0.77	$27,580
9	Nursing Assistants in North Carolina	2,780	18.06	1.94	$37,430
10	Cooks, Fast Food in North Carolina	2,650	17.17	4.16	$27,550
11	Customer Service Representatives in North Carolina	2,250	14.59	0.87	$37,790
12	Upholsterers	2,220	14.41	111.23	$59,700
13	Office Clerks, General in North Carolina	2,060	13.39	0.84	$40,340
14	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in North Carolina	2,040	13.22	0.48	$30,490
15	Waiters and Waitresses in North Carolina	2,000	13.00	0.89	$29,310
16	Sewing Machine Operators	1,860	12.06	17.88	$46,540
17	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in North Carolina	1,790	11.60	1.87	$38,380
18	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in North Carolina	1,760	11.42	2.64	$64,910
19	General and Operations Managers in North Carolina	1,750	11.35	0.50	$95,640
20	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in North Carolina	1,730	11.26	1.41	$67,150

Most concentrated occupations in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, 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	Upholsterers	111.23	2,220	14.41	$59,700
2	Cutters and Trimmers, Hand	97.45	590	3.80	$49,200
3	Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers	49.84	150	0.95	$48,380
4	Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders	34.20	390	2.53	$33,870
5	Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	33.59	430	2.82	$36,200
6	Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	30.44	270	1.76	$48,640
7	Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders	22.09	120	0.75	$38,990
8	Furniture Finishers	20.19	290	1.88	$40,000
9	Sewing Machine Operators	17.88	1,860	12.06	$46,540
10	Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other	17.13	230	1.49	$37,370

Occupation groups in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$103,700	$123,200	6,810	44.21	0.62
Computer and Mathematical	$83,650	$92,200	2,050	13.28	0.39
Architecture and Engineering	$80,780	$88,540	2,050	13.27	0.79
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$78,990	$95,380	9,470	61.46	0.97
Business and Financial Operations	$69,990	$78,610	6,270	40.67	0.60
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$67,060	$74,240	800	5.22	0.55
Legal	$63,790	$93,930	490	3.17	0.38
Community and Social Service	$54,610	$55,140	2,190	14.20	0.83
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$54,120	$56,840	6,930	44.97	1.15
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$48,290	$75,870	1,370	8.89	0.68
Construction and Extraction	$47,560	$51,790	4,310	27.99	0.68
Educational Instruction and Library	$47,260	$47,680	7,800	50.60	0.86
Production	$45,450	$46,900	27,410	177.86	3.23
Protective Service	$44,670	$46,580	3,830	24.85	1.02
Office and Administrative Support	$43,110	$45,230	15,540	100.83	0.88
Transportation and Material Moving	$41,290	$44,140	17,290	112.21	1.28
Healthcare Support	$37,120	$38,200	6,850	44.43	0.87
Sales and Related	$35,110	$47,070	13,370	86.79	1.01
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$34,700	$35,450	3,420	22.20	0.76
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$33,780	$37,830	220	1.42	0.51
Personal Care and Service	$30,530	$35,430	2,230	14.50	0.69
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$28,720	$31,620	13,410	87.00	0.99

Every occupation in North Carolina, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 385 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 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC estimates (area 25860).

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 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, 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.