What Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products earn in Franklin County, NC
The median pay for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC is $72,220 per year, which works out to $34.72 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area, the labor market that Franklin County, NC belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $86,590, which is 19.9% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,550 people working in this occupation across the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Franklin County, NC has roughly 74,386 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $40,270 a year ($19.36 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $154,980 or more ($74.51 an hour). That is a gap of $114,710 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $50,610 at the 25th percentile and $101,620 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 3.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC is $34.72. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $72,220, and the same salary is $6,018 a month before taxes or about $2,778 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $27.32 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products this way: "Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms"; "Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests"; "Contact regular and prospective customers to demonstrate products, explain product features, and solicit orders"; "Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates".
Job outlook for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 1,279,400 jobs in 2025 to 1,268,200 in 2035, a change of -0.9%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 99,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.8% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $72,080 for this occupation; the Franklin County, NC median of $72,220 is 0.2% above it.
How pay in Franklin County, NC compares
Compared with the North Carolina average
Franklin County, NC pays above the state benchmark. The North Carolina employment-weighted average for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products is $69,253; the local median of $72,220 beats it by $2,967, or 4.3%. Within North Carolina, the highest median we track for this job is $72,500 in Mecklenburg County, NC.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products is $70,444 across the contiguous United States. At $72,220, Franklin County, NC pays $1,776 more, which is 2.5% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Franklin County, NC
Among the 498 occupations with published wages in Franklin County, NC, Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products ranks number 156 by median pay, ahead of about 69% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $132,770 a year, which is $60,550 more than the median for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $72,220 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $15,390 a year, which leaves $56,830, or $4,736 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $21 goes to taxes and $79 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 21.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $56,470. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $7,337, an effective 10.2% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,478 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,047. FICA totals $5,525, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in North Carolina
North Carolina income tax on this salary is $2,527 a year, or 3.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $211 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Franklin County, NC
IRS Statistics of Income data for Franklin County, NC show an average adjusted gross income of $72,459 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.7% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 6.9%, compared with the 10.2% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Franklin County, NC
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Franklin County, NC: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $56,830 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Franklin County, NC is $1,552 a month, or $18,624 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,689 a month. For Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products, a one-bedroom absorbs 32.8% of take-home pay and 25.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.8% of gross pay for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using North Carolina residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,493 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $645, for $2,138 in total. Gasoline in North Carolina averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,472.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $25,670 a year, 45% of take-home pay. That leaves $31,161 a year, or $2,597 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 43.1% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Franklin County, NC
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Franklin County, NC: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Franklin County, NC, set beside the North Carolina and national medians.
Property taxes in Franklin County, NC
Homeowners in Franklin County, NC pay a median of $1,834 a year in real estate taxes, 3% below the North Carolina median of $1,896 and 41% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $284,300, the median tax bill is 0.65% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products median of $72,220, a tax bill of that size would equal 2.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Franklin County, NC
Renters in Franklin County, NC pay a median gross rent of $1,083 a month in the Census survey, 12% below the North Carolina median of $1,228. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,552 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $284,300, 2% below the North Carolina median of $288,900. Median household income is $74,240, 3% above the North Carolina median of $72,388, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 25.1% of that income.
Commuting in Franklin County, NC
Workers in Franklin County, NC who travel to a workplace spend an average of 33.3 minutes each way, 33% above the North Carolina average of 25.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.5% of workers in Franklin County, NC work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products afford to live in Franklin County, NC?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $72,220 that ceiling is $1,805 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,552 is $253 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.85 an hour; the median for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products is $34.72, which is 16% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.32 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,689 a month means $845 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,490 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $39,651.
How fast you can save
At $2,597 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products pay in Franklin County, NC
What is the hourly wage for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC?
The median is $34.72 per hour, based on $72,220 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.36 at the 10th percentile to $74.51 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $72,220 becomes $56,830 a year. That is $4,736 a month, $2,186 every two weeks or $1,093 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC?
Total taxes are $15,390 a year, an effective rate of 21.3%: $7,337 federal income tax, $5,525 FICA and $2,527 North Carolina income tax.
Is pay for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC above the North Carolina average?
Yes. The local median of $72,220 is +4.3% versus the North Carolina average of $69,253, a difference of $2,967 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products salary in Franklin County, NC?
A one-bedroom costs $1,552 a month against take-home pay of $4,736, which is 32.8% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,805 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Franklin County, NC?
About $2,597 a month ($31,161 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $25,670 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Franklin County, NC at the 30% guideline?
$29.85 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,624 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products is $34.72.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Raleigh-Cary, NC metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the North Carolina rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.