Hiring a chief executive in Durham, NC

Employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay chief executives a median of $381,330, with the middle half of the market between $248,580 and $499,990. Durham residents working in management occupations report a median of $90,226, which is 76% below what the metro pays for this role.

Get Instant Pricing

What does a chief executive earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$248,580
Median	$381,330
75th percentile	$499,990

Half of chief executives in this area earn between $248,580 and $499,990. A band set below $248,580 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Durham residents earn

$90,226

Median earnings of Durham residents working in management occupations, 20,498 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 76% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Durham rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Direct or coordinate an organization's financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Confer with board members, organization officials, or staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems.
Prepare budgets for approval, including those for funding or implementation of programs.
Direct, plan, or implement policies, objectives, or activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, or to increase productivity.
Prepare or present reports concerning activities, expenses, budgets, government statutes or rulings, or other items affecting businesses or program services.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 11-1011.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Atlassian JIRA, Extensible markup language XML, Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Access.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Durham?

This is a job zone five: extensive preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

That matters here, because 55.7% of Durham adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a deep local pool for a degree-requiring role. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Durham commute runs 22.7 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 20.6% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Durham County, management of companies and enterprises employs 6,377 and turns over 3.7% a quarter, with 166 hires against 225 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $16,899 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 55.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about chief executives. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $76,266 to $114,399 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.