Start with the answer
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel pay in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel is $72,460 per year in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC. It is $116,510 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 37.8% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 41-3091 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 3,300 wage and salary jobs in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and 13,390 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, 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