Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, ranked by annual average salary. For each job, the table displays the number of employees with that job, as well as the job's entry-level salary. (The entry-level salary is calculated based on the 10% of paid workers with the lowest salaries.)

Based on the table, we see that the highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC are those of family medicine physician, with an average annual salary of $230,850. The second highest-paying jobs are those of general pediatrician, with an average salary of $221,830.

All of the shown salary and employment information for Durham-Chapel Hill, NC has been computed using data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in April 2023. Notably, the highest-paying occupations change from year to year. Tables 2, 3, and 4 show the top 10 highest-paying occupations in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$230,850	$223,540	160
2	General Pediatricians	$221,830	$108,570	70
3	General Dentists	$208,480	$130,930	180
4	Psychiatrists	$169,570	$37,110	30
5	Natural Sciences Managers	$165,840	$97,460	1,810
6	Computer Network Architects	$163,620	$96,970	1,000
7	Financial Managers	$159,170	$97,970	1,750
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$158,350	$103,970	3,070
9	Sales Managers	$150,060	$63,630	750
10	Sales Engineers	$144,440	$95,950	260
11	Commercial Pilots	$143,760	$79,720	40
12	Marketing Managers	$141,240	$84,870	1,390
13	Physicists	$141,130	$50,000	90
14	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$138,410	$100,690	650
15	Optometrists	$136,330	$53,990	40
16	Pharmacists	$135,630	$95,250	1,200
17	Computer Hardware Engineers	$134,330	$80,800	530
18	Lawyers	$132,960	$52,450	1,380
19	Purchasing Managers	$132,560	$84,700	280
20	Training and Development Managers	$132,500	$80,670	270
21	All Other Managers	$131,920	$73,350	1,840
22	Human Resources Managers	$130,830	$81,340	600
23	Postsecondary Business Teachers	$130,460	$40,090	280
24	Software Developers	$129,990	$83,680	8,330
25	Actuaries	$127,560	$73,340	30
26	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$126,430	$72,560	70
27	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$126,270	$84,460	200
28	Nurse Practitioners	$126,110	$107,260	1,260
29	General and Operations Managers	$125,360	$54,710	6,410
30	Data Scientists	$124,960	$63,900	710
31	Industrial Production Managers	$124,260	$80,500	650
32	Statisticians	$124,010	$77,880	730
33	Other Postsecondary Social Sciences Teachers	$123,630	$48,990	130
34	Operations Research Analysts	$123,580	$69,950	140
35	Database Architects	$123,550	$69,060	310
36	Veterinarians	$121,300	$75,460	180
37	First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	$118,570	$61,160	760
38	Epidemiologists	$116,790	$63,620	30
39	Postsecondary Sociology Teachers	$114,360	$51,100	70
40	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$113,420	$66,030	50
41	Financial Risk Specialists	$112,600	$79,120	90
42	Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales Representatives	$112,270	$60,390	1,480
43	Technical Writers	$112,140	$49,920	370
44	Electrical Engineers	$111,020	$68,720	500
45	Medical and Health Services Managers	$110,240	$81,000	1,570
46	Environmental Engineers	$110,240	$69,590	110
47	Computer Occupations, All Other	$109,600	$66,040	1,140
48	Physician Assistants	$108,730	$104,000	860
49	Public Relations Managers	$108,470	$78,950	170
50	All Other Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners	$108,040	$59,320	390
51	Art Directors	$107,090	$55,000	70
52	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$107,080	$62,470	300
53	Database Administrators	$106,640	$64,120	260
54	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$106,070	$75,990	40
55	Labor Relations Specialists	$105,520	$78,200	40
56	Computer Programmers	$105,470	$67,660	770
57	Information Security Analysts	$105,390	$84,160	870
58	Soil and Plant Scientists	$105,300	$78,830	210
59	Administrative Services Managers	$105,230	$63,280	630
60	Computer Network Support Specialists	$104,880	$50,640	1,270
61	Engineers, All Other	$103,980	$66,500	280
62	Other Life Scientists	$103,510	$64,460	250
63	Industrial Engineers	$103,080	$77,030	1,130
64	Web and Digital Interface Designers	$103,000	$64,240	570
65	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$102,760	$59,660	910
66	Sociologists	$101,780	$61,410	150
67	Financial Examiners	$101,550	$63,340	70
68	Management Analysts	$101,480	$64,160	1,660
69	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$101,380	$101,380	190
70	Project Management Specialists	$101,220	$62,830	2,760
71	Fundraising Managers	$101,200	$62,890	150
72	Chemical Engineers	$101,090	$65,690	110
73	Power Plant Operators	$100,490	$49,810	40
74	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$99,990	$58,950	1,370
75	Facilities Managers	$99,950	$63,340	230
76	Computer Systems Analysts	$99,930	$65,010	2,620
77	Construction Managers	$99,030	$53,330	990
78	Biochemists and Biophysicists	$96,700	$55,550	100
79	Other Education Administrators	$95,580	$46,460	120
80	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$95,140	$62,710	1,010
81	Mechanical Engineers	$94,350	$62,420	580
82	Postsecondary Nursing Instructors and Teachers	$88,100	$36,000	310
83	Microbiologists	$88,090	$66,100	190
84	Economists	$87,900	$52,080	100
85	Credit Analysts	$86,980	$57,540	60
86	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$86,010	$46,450	170
87	Other Legal Support Workers	$84,950	$38,310	70
88	Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians	$84,900	$58,340	50
89	Architects (Except Landscape and Naval)	$83,460	$61,290	330
90	Postsecondary Computer Science Teachers	$83,420	$51,750	110
91	Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	$83,400	$51,570	390
92	Other Biological Scientists	$82,600	$52,170	690
93	Other Social Workers	$82,600	$51,700	110
94	Chemists	$82,220	$53,010	1,090
95	Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	$82,210	$58,510	170
96	Financial Analysts	$81,850	$61,200	1,140
97	Cartographers and Photogrammetrists	$80,780	$52,210	40
98	Writers and Authors	$80,730	$48,610	150
99	Accountants and Auditors	$80,490	$51,540	3,260
100	Environmental Scientists and Health Specialists	$80,470	$49,750	380

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Psychiatrists	$169,570
2	Financial Managers	$162,720
3	Natural Sciences Managers	$162,600
4	Marketing Managers	$151,870
5	Commercial Pilots	$134,430
6	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$133,990
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$132,610
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$132,450
9	Sales Managers	$131,710
10	Purchasing Managers	$131,130

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$205,350
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$195,810
3	Natural Sciences Managers	$163,050
4	Financial Managers	$149,460
5	Marketing Managers	$148,270
6	Sales Managers	$142,480
7	Sales Engineers	$136,020
8	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$135,420
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$135,000
10	Industrial Production Managers	$129,620

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Natural Sciences Managers	$146,140
2	Marketing Managers	$145,070
3	Financial Managers	$144,010
4	Sales Managers	$141,660
5	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$135,180
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$133,270
7	Sales Engineers	$128,770
8	Human Resources Managers	$127,790
9	Industrial Production Managers	$126,600
10	Materials Scientists	$126,420

Also see The most popular jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC.

Also see The most popular jobs in North Carolina, The top paying jobs in North Carolina.