Bookkeeper salary in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Pay in Durham-Chapel Hill against North Carolina and the US

Bookkeepers at the 90th percentile earn $71,730, 2.0 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.1. The middle half of bookkeepers in Durham-Chapel Hill earns $44,760–$61,320. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $16,560 wide, against $18,190 across North Carolina and $17,950 nationally: employers in Durham-Chapel Hill pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $10,530 over the median, the 25th only $6,030 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $13,587 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $50,670 falls between the 25th percentile and the median in Durham-Chapel Hill, and the North Carolina statewide median of $47,930 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Durham-Chapel Hill

At the $50,790 median, a local hire costs about $65,535 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $14,745 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for bookkeepers we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Durham-Chapel Hill

Of the 17 roles we track in Durham-Chapel Hill, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between paralegals ($52,500) and HR assistants ($50,530). Project Coordinator is the highest at $104,870.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #9 of the 17 roles we track in Durham-Chapel Hill (+0.2%), between administrative assistants (+0.6%) and HR assistants (-0.2%). The typical role here is at +0.2%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Bookkeepers hold 6.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Durham-Chapel Hill, 9.3% across North Carolina and 8.7% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Carolina

Across the 18 areas of North Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $42,910 in Jacksonville to $50,800 in Charlotte-Concord, a gap of $7,890 a year. Of the 6 areas in North Carolina with more bookkeepers than Durham-Chapel Hill, 5 pay less, the largest of them Raleigh-Cary, NC ($50,200), Greensboro-High Point, NC ($46,990) and the Eastern North Carolina nonmetro area ($44,690).

Durham-Chapel Hill against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Durham-Chapel Hill is #95 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside North Carolina, Nashville-Murfreesboro and Albany pay just above Durham-Chapel Hill and Appleton and Springfield just below. All four are within $30 a year of the median in Durham-Chapel Hill. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, two pay more.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.