North Carolina · NAICS 455 · Annual, 2025
General Merchandise Retailers in North Carolina
Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 455 in North Carolina, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.
In 2025, General Merchandise Retailers (NAICS 455) employed about 114,900 people in North Carolina across roughly 3,841 establishments, with average annual pay of $31,610.
Employment in General Merchandise Retailers in North Carolina grew 7.2% from 2020 to 2025. Average pay in the industry is 55.8% below the all-industries average in North Carolina. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 114,900. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for North Carolina are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.
- 114,900Employment, 2025
- 3,841Establishments
- $31,610Avg. annual pay
- 2.3%Share of North Carolina jobs
- 1.11Location quotient
Employment, 2004 to 2025
Annual average · all ownerships
Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 90,400; 2005 95,300; 2006 96,700; 2007 101,600; 2008 104,100; 2009 103,800; 2010 103,900; 2011 107,800; 2012 108,400; 2013 108,800; 2014 110,500; 2015 112,000; 2016 114,200; 2017 111,000; 2018 111,300; 2019 109,400; 2020 107,200; 2021 109,500; 2022 106,100; 2023 109,100; 2024 112,800; 2025 114,900.
Last ten years
Annual · 10 years
| Year | Employment | Estab. | Avg. annual pay | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 114,892 | 3,841 | $31,613 | 1.8% | pub. |
| 2024 | 112,817 | 3,711 | $30,051 | 3.4% | pub. |
| 2023 | 109,143 | 3,484 | $29,383 | 2.9% | pub. |
| 2022 | 106,103 | 3,084 | $28,798 | 3.1% | pub. |
| 2021 | 109,464 | 3,713 | $28,249 | 2.1% | est. · 0.54 |
| 2020 | 107,214 | 3,551 | $26,084 | 2.0% | est. · 0.55 |
| 2019 | 109,413 | 3,458 | $24,890 | 1.7% | est. · 0.59 |
| 2018 | 111,326 | 3,361 | $24,487 | 0.3% | est. · 0.57 |
| 2017 | 111,001 | 3,279 | $24,015 | 2.8% | est. · 0.54 |
| 2016 | 114,188 | 3,278 | $23,169 | 1.9% | est. · 0.30 |
† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.
The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.
Where these numbers come from
Reading these figures
The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.
How this figure was built
Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.
Notes
Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.
General Merchandise Retailers in North Carolina, quarterly, at full depth
This page shows annual figures for general merchandise retailers in North Carolina. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.
County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.