Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. North Carolina scores 94.3 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $70,744 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | North Carolina (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 94.3 | 31st of 51 |
| Rents | 81.4 | 30th of 51 |
| Goods | 96.6 | — |
| Other services | 98.2 | — |
Home electricity averaged 14.13 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $3.74 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 4,941,820 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in North Carolina, the median pay is $47,970 a year, or $23.06 an hour; that ranks 35th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $28,580 and one in ten more than $119,640.
North Carolina taxes wages at a flat 3.99%. The brackets in North Carolina. A single filer on the median $47,970, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $38,810 a year, or $1,493 every two weeks, after $3,576 of federal income tax, $3,670 of Social Security and Medicare and $1,914 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in North Carolina.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | 127,540 | $31,370 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 116,720 | $38,230 |
| Registered Nurses | 111,120 | $84,350 |
| Cashiers | 106,440 | $28,880 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 92,230 | $28,570 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are software developers ($134,710), general and operations managers ($101,950), registered nurses ($84,350). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 100 North Carolina counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $274,147, and across the 60 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,617 a month. A typical home costs 3.63 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $2,194 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $94,014 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 17.0% of North Carolina's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +0.9% over the past year and +26.6% over five years, and rents +2.6% over the past year.
The most expensive North Carolina counties are Dare County ($604,044), Chatham County ($565,381) and Currituck County ($550,970); the least expensive are Bertie County ($67,524), Halifax County ($104,102) and Washington County ($110,297).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median North Carolina county, that comes to $46,829 a year for one adult and $96,019 for two adults and two children, of which $12,383 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $74,569.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $12,341 | $1,028 |
| Food | $11,533 | $961 |
| Transportation | $18,520 | $1,543 |
| Healthcare | $19,136 | $1,595 |
| Childcare | $12,383 | $1,032 |
| Other necessities | $7,389 | $616 |
| Taxes | $13,470 | $1,123 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 168 colleges in North Carolina, 76 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $15,938 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $36,048. Compare degrees and schools.
| Alamance County | $297,220 | +1.6% | $1,314 | $81,569 | $93,313 |
| Alexander County | $270,610 | +6.7% | — | $76,397 | $88,584 |
| Alleghany County | $271,153 | +1.0% | — | $58,947 | $89,107 |
| Anson County | $140,026 | −1.7% | — | $60,137 | $95,223 |
| Ashe County | $359,424 | +2.1% | — | $65,092 | $102,050 |
| Avery County | $388,739 | −1.4% | — | $77,762 | $101,442 |
| Beaufort County | $236,023 | +2.3% | $1,358 | $72,407 | $96,138 |
| Bertie County | $67,524 | +1.5% | — | $61,644 | $94,541 |
| Bladen County | $142,977 | −0.8% | — | $62,270 | $87,374 |
| Brunswick County | $409,532 | +0.6% | $1,771 | $87,470 | $104,828 |
| Buncombe County | $453,427 | −4.4% | $1,676 | $89,900 | $120,136 |
| Burke County | $257,627 | +2.1% | $1,360 | $68,107 | $88,226 |
| Cabarrus County | $387,094 | −0.5% | $1,834 | $102,832 | $114,339 |
| Caldwell County | $238,805 | +1.8% | $1,233 | $70,707 | $86,164 |
| Camden County | $400,271 | +3.1% | — | $96,588 | $98,434 |
| Carteret County | $473,823 | +2.9% | $1,758 | $89,470 | $116,575 |
| Caswell County | $212,565 | +6.1% | — | $72,664 | $87,577 |
| Catawba County | $296,593 | +1.2% | $1,631 | $77,840 | $94,357 |
| Chatham County | $565,381 | 0.0% | $2,009 | $109,377 | $109,770 |
| Cherokee County | $269,914 | +0.4% | — | $65,928 | $90,056 |
| Chowan County | $234,574 | +5.1% | — | $70,734 | $98,681 |
| Clay County | $345,353 | −1.0% | — | $79,101 | $91,940 |
| Cleveland County | $214,273 | −0.5% | $1,186 | $68,049 | $85,809 |
| Columbus County | $187,749 | +5.9% | — | $61,797 | $92,216 |
| Craven County | $278,188 | +2.1% | $1,607 | $81,741 | $107,979 |
| Cumberland County | $231,978 | +0.3% | $1,382 | $69,881 | $94,173 |
| Currituck County | $550,970 | +0.4% | $2,567 | $110,343 | $112,575 |
| Dare County | $604,044 | +0.3% | $2,500 | $102,345 | $117,824 |
| Davidson County | $277,140 | +3.7% | $1,412 | $77,356 | $87,383 |
| Davie County | $328,747 | +3.4% | $1,627 | $89,369 | $101,702 |
| Duplin County | $189,078 | +2.0% | — | $68,214 | $91,164 |
| Durham County | $396,360 | −3.4% | $1,665 | $103,036 | $119,861 |
| Edgecombe County | $137,658 | −2.1% | $1,058 | $61,203 | $92,498 |
| Forsyth County | $286,414 | +0.8% | $1,574 | $82,991 | $96,010 |
| Franklin County | $364,221 | −0.1% | $1,734 | $82,705 | $104,907 |
| Gaston County | $300,787 | +0.5% | $1,671 | $80,784 | $98,705 |
| Gates County | $258,097 | +11.1% | — | $76,599 | $99,078 |
| Graham County | $230,984 | +0.7% | — | $63,714 | $92,799 |
| Granville County | $317,221 | +0.4% | $1,775 | $84,347 | $105,201 |
| Greene County | $182,075 | +0.4% | — | $57,457 | $100,042 |
| Guilford County | $279,047 | +0.6% | $1,427 | $84,325 | $98,079 |
| Halifax County | $104,102 | +3.7% | — | $57,993 | $90,958 |
| Harnett County | $295,558 | +0.7% | $1,898 | $82,501 | $96,476 |
| Haywood County | $345,457 | −3.4% | $1,642 | $81,941 | $101,488 |
| Henderson County | $429,185 | −1.9% | $1,887 | $82,920 | $109,501 |
| Hertford County | $117,838 | +3.9% | — | $64,296 | $91,662 |
| Hoke County | $280,555 | −0.2% | $1,762 | $73,034 | $92,203 |
| Hyde County | $228,632 | +3.8% | — | $54,730 | $111,776 |
| Iredell County | $390,270 | +1.0% | $1,655 | $93,159 | $110,671 |
| Jackson County | $452,528 | 0.0% | $1,447 | $74,783 | $96,028 |
| Johnston County | $344,484 | −0.5% | $1,801 | $98,993 | $104,285 |
| Jones County | $128,584 | −1.2% | — | $69,736 | $97,355 |
| Lee County | $292,487 | +0.1% | $1,790 | $68,608 | $94,553 |
| Lenoir County | $152,691 | +6.8% | $1,220 | $63,247 | $91,573 |
| Lincoln County | $407,561 | +1.8% | $1,592 | $93,296 | $100,252 |
| Macon County | $366,678 | +1.8% | $1,650 | $71,306 | $92,537 |
| Madison County | $397,782 | +0.3% | — | $82,178 | $97,091 |
| Martin County | $130,342 | +4.3% | — | $64,044 | $93,787 |
| McDowell County | $264,176 | −2.2% | $1,409 | $68,570 | $91,064 |
| Mecklenburg County | $421,920 | −0.7% | $1,757 | $105,950 | $118,612 |
| Mitchell County | $243,341 | +0.5% | — | $72,303 | $86,894 |
| Montgomery County | $198,150 | +5.8% | — | $63,984 | $89,402 |
| Moore County | $416,447 | +0.9% | $1,983 | $100,891 | $110,019 |
| Nash County | $238,493 | +1.3% | $1,426 | $74,069 | $94,209 |
| New Hanover County | $451,113 | −0.1% | $1,696 | $99,706 | $113,888 |
| Northampton County | $113,761 | +8.0% | — | $63,477 | $95,927 |
| Onslow County | $293,686 | +3.3% | $1,581 | $72,330 | $101,016 |
| Orange County | $508,867 | −1.8% | $1,607 | $128,253 | $124,923 |
| Pamlico County | $280,786 | +7.4% | — | $85,611 | $98,988 |
| Pasquotank County | $269,787 | +1.2% | $1,524 | $78,702 | $98,351 |
| Pender County | $439,797 | −0.2% | $2,057 | $95,366 | $101,850 |
| Perquimans County | $287,532 | +7.9% | — | $78,865 | $93,626 |
| Person County | $255,526 | +6.4% | — | $78,985 | $89,978 |
| Pitt County | $245,420 | +1.5% | $1,423 | $77,116 | $101,928 |
| Polk County | $309,022 | −2.7% | — | $80,273 | $100,235 |
| Randolph County | $255,615 | +3.5% | $1,112 | $70,917 | $91,316 |
| Richmond County | $134,300 | +2.3% | — | $58,491 | $87,161 |
| Robeson County | $136,897 | +0.6% | $1,192 | $51,516 | $83,487 |
| Rockingham County | $202,327 | +0.8% | $1,109 | $70,961 | $83,604 |
| Rowan County | $279,739 | +0.8% | $1,416 | $77,193 | $100,521 |
| Rutherford County | $220,005 | +4.9% | $1,422 | $61,796 | $90,887 |
| Sampson County | $151,494 | +4.1% | — | $67,103 | $88,812 |
| Scotland County | $147,805 | +4.9% | — | $52,060 | $85,823 |
| Stanly County | $307,252 | +2.4% | $1,701 | $81,804 | $91,865 |
| Stokes County | $265,398 | +8.0% | — | $71,817 | $87,839 |
| Surry County | $242,752 | +5.1% | $1,092 | $73,707 | $83,759 |
| Swain County | $327,862 | −0.3% | — | $76,089 | $99,312 |
| Transylvania County | $475,231 | −1.9% | $1,985 | $81,716 | $97,038 |
| Tyrrell County | $172,357 | +1.5% | — | $62,629 | $93,487 |
| Union County | $453,704 | −0.5% | $2,131 | $113,755 | $116,002 |
| Vance County | $185,626 | −1.6% | $983 | $57,207 | $89,464 |
| Wake County | $481,361 | −2.0% | $1,672 | $128,556 | $121,641 |
| Warren County | $224,226 | +5.2% | — | $54,275 | $88,195 |
| Washington County | $110,297 | +1.1% | — | $63,687 | $95,007 |
| Watauga County | $516,079 | +0.5% | $2,249 | $87,273 | $110,584 |
| Wayne County | $184,245 | +0.4% | $1,474 | $73,138 | $98,333 |
| Wilkes County | $227,948 | +5.2% | $1,305 | $62,018 | $85,935 |
| Wilson County | $218,178 | +0.3% | $1,381 | $70,358 | $96,770 |
| Yadkin County | $238,931 | +4.7% | — | $76,014 | $82,831 |
| Yancey County | $318,996 | −1.2% | — | $74,354 | $96,037 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Charlotte, NC (typical rent $1,756), Virginia Beach, VA (typical rent $1,877), Raleigh, NC (typical rent $1,683), Greensboro, NC (typical rent $1,400), Winston-Salem, NC (typical rent $1,557), Durham, NC (typical rent $1,660).
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County figures are medians across North Carolina's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.