BlurryMe // Shutterstock
1 / 50#47. Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $93,770
- Median hourly wage: $45.08
- Total employment: 90 people (0.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Fayetteville, North Carolina
Despite recession fears and falling consumer confidence, the job market in the United States has remained relatively stable in 2025 thus far. According to May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, around 177,000 new jobs were added in April, a slight decrease from the 185,000 new jobs added in the month before, but an extension of the country's 52-month streak of job growth. Unemployment rates also held relatively steady between April 2024 and April 2025, coming in at around 4%.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have it easy in the workplace. A December 2024 Payscale report found that nearly half (47%) of business organizations struggle to balance fair pay practices with spend optimization, and 18% plan to reduce pay increases in 2025 as a result.
For context, median weekly earnings across all employees in the U.S. stood at $1,194 in the first quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of 4.8% from a year prior and exceeds the Consumer Price Index's 2.7% increase in the same time period. However, there's one caveat: Earnings go much further in some places than in others.
In fact, the very definition of a "high-paying" job varies by location, as well as other factors such as industry and benefits. Even a six-figure salary may be considered low-income in places with an unusually high cost of living. Meanwhile, technology, finance, and health care jobs lead in terms of salary, but benefits like remote work can make other lower-paying jobs more desirable.
Regardless, anyone seeking a high-paying job should start by looking at the numbers. Stacker used BLS data to find the 50 highest-paying jobs in Fayetteville. Jobs are ranked by their median annual pay as of May 2024, so any jobs without annual compensation figures available were excluded from this analysis.
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ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
2 / 50#47. Occupational therapists (tie)
- Median annual wage: $93,770
- Median hourly wage: $45.08
- Total employment: 170 people (1.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PanuShot // Shutterstock
3 / 50#47. Financial specialists, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $93,770
- Median hourly wage: $45.08
- Total employment: 120 people (0.88 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
boonchoke // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Business operations specialists, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $93,770
- Median hourly wage: $45.08
- Total employment: 2,080 people (15.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $94,840
- Median hourly wage: $45.60
- Total employment: 140 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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PIYAWAT WONGOPASS // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Computer programmers
- Median annual wage: $95,200
- Median hourly wage: $45.77
- Total employment: 40 people (0.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $95,320
- Median hourly wage: $45.83
- Total employment: 430 people (3.27 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $95,710
- Median hourly wage: $46.02
- Total employment: 140 people (1.09 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $95,830
- Median hourly wage: $46.07
- Total employment: 280 people (2.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
sabthai // Shutterstock
10 / 50#39. Budget analysts (tie)
- Median annual wage: $96,780
- Median hourly wage: $46.53
- Total employment: 220 people (1.64 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
11 / 50#39. Management analysts (tie)
- Median annual wage: $96,780
- Median hourly wage: $46.53
- Total employment: 640 people (4.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Computer occupations, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $96,780
- Median hourly wage: $46.53
- Total employment: 1,010 people (7.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $97,900
- Median hourly wage: $47.07
- Total employment: 340 people (2.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $100,450
- Median hourly wage: $48.30
- Total employment: 200 people (1.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $102,100
- Median hourly wage: $49.09
- Total employment: 260 people (1.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $102,380
- Median hourly wage: $49.22
- Total employment: 360 people (2.68 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
17 / 50#33. Social scientists and related workers, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $102,840
- Median hourly wage: $49.44
- Total employment: 290 people (2.22 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rido // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Social workers, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: $102,840
- Median hourly wage: $49.44
- Total employment: 180 people (1.39 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $104,990
- Median hourly wage: $50.48
- Total employment: 120 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $105,100
- Median hourly wage: $50.53
- Total employment: 130 people (0.95 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Chaay_Tee // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Data scientists
- Median annual wage: $105,330
- Median hourly wage: $50.64
- Total employment: 70 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
22 / 50#28. Electrical engineers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $105,850
- Median hourly wage: $50.89
- Total employment: 80 people (0.6 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Facilities managers (tie)
- Median annual wage: $105,850
- Median hourly wage: $50.89
- Total employment: 80 people (0.61 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Education administrators, all other
- Median annual wage: $106,330
- Median hourly wage: $51.12
- Total employment: 410 people (3.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $107,510
- Median hourly wage: $51.69
- Total employment: 60 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Skycolors // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $112,260
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 40 people (0.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $114,440
- Median hourly wage: $55.02
- Total employment: 70 people (0.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $116,990
- Median hourly wage: $56.24
- Total employment: 90 people (0.67 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $117,610
- Median hourly wage: $56.54
- Total employment: 120 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $117,900
- Median hourly wage: $56.68
- Total employment: 230 people (1.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $117,960
- Median hourly wage: $56.71
- Total employment: 700 people (5.24 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $121,850
- Median hourly wage: $58.58
- Total employment: 380 people (2.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $125,030
- Median hourly wage: $60.11
- Total employment: 90 people (0.7 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $126,220
- Median hourly wage: $60.68
- Total employment: 80 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $128,600
- Median hourly wage: $61.83
- Total employment: 530 people (4.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $130,930
- Median hourly wage: $62.95
- Total employment: 230 people (1.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $132,450
- Median hourly wage: $63.68
- Total employment: 260 people (1.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $135,310
- Median hourly wage: $65.05
- Total employment: 400 people (3.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $135,880
- Median hourly wage: $65.33
- Total employment: 230 people (1.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $140,250
- Median hourly wage: $67.43
- Total employment: 40 people (0.28 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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VE.Studio // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Natural sciences managers
- Median annual wage: $156,560
- Median hourly wage: $75.27
- Total employment: 40 people (0.31 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $159,500
- Median hourly wage: $76.68
- Total employment: 70 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $161,820
- Median hourly wage: $77.80
- Total employment: 40 people (0.32 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $177,070
- Median hourly wage: $85.13
- Total employment: 150 people (1.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Family medicine physicians
- Median annual wage: $211,570
- Median hourly wage: $101.72
- Total employment: 50 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
46 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 820 people (6.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#1. Chief executives (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
48 / 50#1. Nurse anesthetists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BlurryMe // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. General internal medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: Not available
Roman Zaiets // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Radiologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: Not available
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Cu Fleshman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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