H-1B salaries in Durham, NC

Based on 5,945 certified H-1B filings in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Base salary only.

Median salary$119,060
Middle 50%$101.8k–$141.2k
vs. national median−3%comparison median $122,699
Filings5,945FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $55,729 and $231,780.
PercentileSalary
10th$80,000
25th$101,764
50th (median)$119,060
75th$141,170
90th$161,741

Salary by year

Median salary

$80k $110k $140k FY2020: median $93,558 (3,386 filings) FY2021: median $95,555 (3,410 filings) FY2022: median $100,797 (3,711 filings) FY2023: median $109,300 (3,274 filings) FY2024: median $110,365 (3,370 filings) FY2025: median $117,832 (3,405 filings) FY2026: median $125,000 (2,540 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 3,386 filings FY20 FY2021: 3,410 filings FY21 FY2022: 3,711 filings FY22 FY2023: 3,274 filings FY23 FY2024: 3,370 filings FY24 FY2025: 3,405 filings FY25 FY2026: 2,540 filings FY26 3,711
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$93,558$85,000$108,6593,386
FY2021$95,555$90,000$114,0003,410
FY2022$100,797$88,629$116,0003,711
FY2023$109,300$95,000$125,0003,274
FY2024$110,365$92,539$132,4133,370
FY2025$117,832$95,000$141,1703,405
FY2026$125,000$111,831$145,6692,540

Cost of living

Durham's median H-1B salary of $119,060 is worth about $122,000 at national average prices.

Fair market rent, 1-bedroom$1,554Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (Durham-Chapel Hill, NC HUD Metro FMR Area).
Fair market rent, 2-bedroom$1,745Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (Durham-Chapel Hill, NC HUD Metro FMR Area).
Price level (U.S. = 100)97.6Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.
Price-adjusted median$122,000Median salary ÷ (price level ÷ 100).
State income tax on wagesNC: yesSource: Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2025.

Most filed jobs

JobMedianFilings
Software Engineer$130,0002,923
Systems Engineer / Architect$120,000360
Data Scientist$115,162254
Systems Analyst$104,000235
QA Engineer$108,410209
Biochemist$75,254160
Programmer Analyst$94,806120
IT Manager$157,187105
Electronics Engineer$139,69198
Statistician$112,96580
Database Administrator$123,75070
Medical Scientist$70,14665
Industrial Engineer$94,00064
Network Administrator$110,46964
Molecular and Cellular Biologist$90,07155

By job title

Full Stack Developer$117.9k · 446 Cloud Engineer$124.6k · 82 Site Reliability Engineer$130.6k · 52 Systems Engineer$117.8k · 51 DevOps Engineer$135.1k · 30 Java Developer$117.8k · 30 Frontend Developer$122k · 24 Solutions Architect$159.7k · 21 Product Manager$136k · 20 SAP Consultant$116.8k · 11

Job titles with at least 10 filings in Durham, NC. Figure: median salary · filings.