General & Operations Managers salary in Hickory, NC
Median pay for general & operations managers in Hickory, NC: $98,150/yr
Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $45,300 – $224,990 · about 1,900 employed locally
Above the typical metro median ($97,370) by +$780 (+1%).
What it's really worth in Hickory
With Hickory's cost of living at 89 (US=100), that $98,150 has the buying power of about $109,819 in an average-cost US metro.
Local context: median household income $57,943 · median home $271,739 · median rent $1,496/mo.
How Hickory ranks for this job
On raw pay, Hickory, NC is 90th of the 186 metros we hold general & operations managers wages for. Once Hickory's cost of living is applied, it ranks 37th.
Pay here goes further than the headline number suggests — Hickory is one of the places where general & operations managers gain ground in real terms, because local costs are low relative to what the job pays.
What that salary buys in Hickory
A median home in Hickory, NC costs $271,739 — about 2.8× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is more attainable here than in the average metro on this income.
Median rent of $1,496/mo works out at 18% of gross pay — inside the conventional 30% affordability ceiling.
Where general & operations managers earn more
Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Hickory.
| Metro | Median pay | vs Hickory | Rent vs Hickory |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $166,660 | +70% | 2.4× |
| Trenton, NJ | $154,790 | +58% | 1.8× |
| San Francisco, CA | $143,250 | +46% | 2.2× |
| Washington, DC | $142,730 | +45% | 1.6× |
Same job elsewhere in NC
| Metro | Median pay | vs Hickory | Rent vs Hickory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham, NC | $130,310 | +33% | 1.1× |
| Raleigh, NC | $110,530 | +13% | 1.1× |
| Charlotte, NC | $108,380 | +10% | 1.2× |
| Winston-Salem, NC | $103,500 | +5% | 1× |
Staying in NC keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.
Other jobs in Hickory
Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.