Wake County · North Carolina
Raleigh, NC jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Raleigh, NC earn a median of $47,892 a year, 7% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 4.5% against 5.2% nationally, and professional, scientific & management is the largest employer at 20.5% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $47,892#21 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 70.5%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 259,964Civilian employed, age 16+
What Raleigh does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Professional, scientific & management20.5%
- Education, health care & social assistance20.3%
- Retail trade9.6%
- Finance, insurance & real estate9%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food9%
- Manufacturing7%
- Construction6.4%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities4.6%
- Public administration4.5%
- Other services, except public administration4.3%
- Information2.5%
- Wholesale trade2.2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.3%
Related data for Raleigh
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.