Every year, the North Carolina Department of Commerce studies national, statewide, and local economic trends to produce long-term and short-term employment projections for state and sub-state areas. Based on historical data, these projections provide a guide for how the state's economic landscape may evolve given the recent economic trends. The current projections cover the years 2022 to 2032.

2022-2032 North Carolina Employment Projections Summary (PDF)

Projections Data

Tab/Accordion Items

North Carolina Star Jobs is a new and simplified way to help you identify promising occupations. Star ratings are assigned based on wages, projected growth rate, and projected job openings, and each occupation has a rating of between one and five stars. Occupations with five stars are considered to have much better career prospects than occupations with fewer stars.

2023 Star Jobs

We have developed the 2023 Star Jobs based on the 2021-2030 Occupational Projections. The 728 rated occupations statewide were rated based on a slightly updated methodology.

Search Star Jobs

The Star Jobs page allows you to search more than 700 occupations in North Carolina by geography, wage, education, and career cluster. You can also sort data by clicking on the triangle icon on the column header (such as Stars or Title header). Detailed occupational information are available by clicking on a given occupational title, which will lead you to an NCcareers occupation profile.

Staffing Patterns identify which North Carolina industries employ the most people in a specific occupation, and locate occupations most likely to be needed in a particular industry.