Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) in North Carolina

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (NAICS 541715) in North Carolina reports 32,238 workers across 480 establishments, with $4.1B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 5.4% of national employment for this industry, a concentration ratio that tells you whether North Carolina is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale. North Carolina accounts for 3.7% of the national Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) establishment count (480 of 12,929), according to Census County Business Patterns.

Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) employees in North Carolina is $126,991/yr, versus a national average of $147,945/yr. North Carolina pays below the national average for this industry, common in lower cost-of-living states or where the industry has a smaller, less specialized local workforce.

Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) is not reported, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size, both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the North Carolina overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).