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Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks pay in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks is $56,400 per year in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC. It is $80,510 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 29.9% below San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 43-3051 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 190 wage and salary jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and 2,260 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings