Office Manager salary in Hickory-Lenoir, NC

Pay in Hickory-Lenoir against North Carolina and the US

Office managers at the 90th percentile earn $88,510, 2.1 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.3. The middle half of office managers in Hickory-Lenoir earns $50,130–$74,990. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $24,860 wide, against $28,070 across North Carolina and $29,140 nationally: employers in Hickory-Lenoir pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an office manager here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $10,190 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $14,670, or about $18,929 once benefits are added. 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 $69,500 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Hickory-Lenoir, and the North Carolina statewide median of $62,340 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Hickory-Lenoir

At the $60,320 median, a local hire costs about $77,832 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $17,512 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 office managers 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 Hickory-Lenoir

Of the 17 roles we track in Hickory-Lenoir, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between recruiters ($64,700) and sales development representatives ($59,850). Project Coordinator is the highest at $85,490.

Measured against the US median, office managers rank #10 of the 17 roles we track in Hickory-Lenoir (-13.2%), between payroll specialists (-12.8%) and sales development representatives (-14.5%). The typical role here is at -12.8%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Office managers hold 8.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Hickory-Lenoir, 6.8% across North Carolina and 9.1% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in North Carolina

Across the 18 areas of North Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $54,150 in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area to $68,450 in Durham-Chapel Hill, a gap of $14,300 a year. Of the 10 areas in North Carolina with more office managers than Hickory-Lenoir, 4 pay less, the largest of them the Eastern North Carolina nonmetro area ($58,020), the Western North Carolina nonmetro area ($54,150) and the Central North Carolina nonmetro area ($58,240).

Hickory-Lenoir against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Hickory-Lenoir is #239 of 517 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside North Carolina, Macon-Bibb County and Muncie pay just above Hickory-Lenoir and Panama City-Panama City Beach and Williamsport just below. All four are within $80 a year of the median in Hickory-Lenoir. Of the three markets with about as many office managers, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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