25 of the Highest Paying Jobs in Rockingham, NC for 2026

The top jobs in the Rockingham area can pay up to $145,600 per year

High Paying Rockingham Jobs

• Engineering

  Salary range: $98,100 - $145,600

  Engineering jobs encompass a range of positions in a variety of technical fields, including mechanical, chemical, electrical, aeronautic, and civil engineering. Some engineering jobs are in research and design, while others focus on the construction and manufacturing industry. In this career, you need a mix of design, project management, and research skills. You can work in numerous industries, including construction, manufacturing, agriculture, medical, aviation, and natural resource extraction. Some jobs are based primarily in an office or lab setting, while others require you to travel to field sites to make surveys and assessments.

• Pharmacist

  Salary range: $98,100 - $117,900

  A Pharmacist fills orders for prescription medications and instructs patients on how to take them. They may work in community or hospital pharmacies, universities, prisons, or for pharmaceutical companies. Pharmacists are responsible for monitoring patient prescriptions to ensure there are no drug interactions or other impacts on existing conditions. They inform patients of potential side effects and may offer immunizations, and should also be aware of the potential for prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists also need to understand insurance coding and how to process claims for patients. Outside of a pharmacy, they may work in other healthcare locations providing patients with medicinal and wellness information.

• Registered Nurse

  Salary range: $55,100 - $87,600

  Registered Nurses, also known as RNs, provide hands-on patient care. This includes developing a treatment plan for the patient, administering medications and injections, inserting catheters, performing physical exams, and reviewing and updating patient medical records. As you gain more experience as a Registered Nurse, you might also assume supervisory responsibilities over Licensed Practical Nurses and RNs with less job experience. In short, it’s your primary responsibility to identify and assess your patients’ healthcare needs and maintain or improve their medical outcomes to the best of your ability. You might find employment in diverse settings, including hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes, clinics, and telehealth platforms.

• Cdl

  Salary range: $55,600 - $74,100

  A CDL job involves the operation of a large vehicle or piece of machinery, which requires a valid commercial driver’s license. There are three different classes of this license. Class A certifies a truck driver to operate vehicles whose gross weight exceeds 26,000 pounds, such as tractor-trailers, flatbeds, and tankers. Class B licenses allow someone to operate buses or box trucks, such as a furniture delivery truck or large package delivery vehicles. Class C licenses are for hazardous material transportation and passenger vans that carry 16 or more people. Positions that require a CDL often require a clean driving record and additional qualifications and skills.

• School Nurse

  Salary range: $44,200 - $67,400

  A School Nurse administers health services in an educational facility, such as an elementary school or a private academy. In this role, you evaluate and treat common conditions, such as headaches and minor cuts, administer medications, or determine if the student’s parents should be called to take the student home or to the doctor. Some School Nurses also oversee basic health care for staff when necessary. You collaborate with the school’s administration to establish health procedures, enforce compliance with health programs, maintain student health records, and conduct health screenings. Other responsibilities include promoting healthy practices and implementing health programs geared toward illness prevention and health habits.

• Electrician

  Salary range: $42,100 - $57,700

  Electricians maintain, repair, and install electrical systems. Their specific job duties vary, depending on their company, industry, and location. As an electrician, your general responsibilities may include rewiring or installing wiring and equipment, inspecting electrical service panels or fuse boxes for safety issues, and identifying the source of power outages. All construction projects need Electricians to wire power sources correctly and to check for safety boundaries with power lines. Those who work in large commercial or industrial companies may maintain and repair large motors and generators. Supervising Electricians are responsible for training and overseeing the staff of Electricians at a company.

• Truck Driver

  Salary range: $33,300 - $55,600

  A truck driver transports goods and materials. They usually go in and out of manufacturing plants, and distribution and retail centers, working day and night shifts. Truck drivers are a vital component of nearly every industry. A truck driver job usually requires a commercial driver’s license (CDL). CDL trucks need special licenses to operate because of their large size. Truck drivers must be able to maneuver these trucks for miles at a time, often in heavy traffic. It is essential to be alert and follow all roadway safety regulations. Driving a tractor-trailer is very different from driving a traditional vehicle; the driver needs to have superb anticipation to keep the load from shifting on a curve, or to maneuver steep grades properly. The trucks themselves have many gears, sometimes as many as eighteen, in the transmission. Trucks also weigh significantly more than cars and are typically between seventy to eighty feet long, which is why a truck driver has to be specially trained to drive these larger vehicles.

• Hotel

  Salary range: $30,700 - $53,900

  Hotel jobs are jobs at hotels, motels, or other lodging establishments, such as a bed and breakfast or retreat. Your primary job duties depend on your position at the hotel. Housekeepers, for example, are responsible for ensuring that each guest’s room remains tidy and supplied with necessary amenities. Hotel desk clerks, meanwhile, are responsible for checking in guests and providing them with information about the hotel’s services and amenities. There are also a number of other service jobs connected to the hotel industry, such as chefs or room service workers.

• Heavy Equipment Operator

  Salary range: $34,100 - $47,100

  Heavy Equipment Operator jobs require the safe and proper use of various types of heavy machinery in a large construction or demolition environment. The tasks of a Heavy Equipment Operator vary depending on the type of job and machinery. Examples of heavy equipment include bulldozers, excavators, loaders, and backhoes. Heavy equipment operators most commonly work in construction, oil and gas pipelines, and logging.

• Dump Truck Driver

  Salary range: $33,700 - $43,800

  Dump truck drivers use large commercial vehicles to load, transport, and unload materials that are commonly used in construction projects. As a dump truck driver, you are an important part of most large construction and demolition projects. You may be responsible for hauling soil, rock, debris, or even hazardous materials to and from the work sites. Some dump truck drivers may stay on site for the duration of the project, while others are called in only when there are items to be moved to the work location or off the site. Dump truck drivers may also complete basic repairs on the machinery they operate, maintain records of deliveries, and discard old, unused, or defective items from the construction site.

• Class B Truck Driver

  Salary range: $35,400 - $40,400

  A Class B Truck Driver job requires candidates to have a specific type of commercial driver’s license (CDL). There are three separate types of CDL classifications, each correlating to different weights of commercial vehicle: Class A, Class B, and Class C. The Class B license means that the truck driver can only drive trucks that are a certain weight and fall into the “Class B” category and designation. These regulations may vary depending on the state, so check your state’s weight restriction limits before seeking employment. A Class B license usually means driving a single vehicle with a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds or more and towing a vehicle or trailer that is less than 10,000 lbs. Class B license holders can typically operate straight trucks, box trucks, and large passenger buses, but not tractor-trailers.

• Housekeeping

  Salary range: $28,200 - $40,000

  Housekeeping jobs are positions that ensure that a room, home, or office remains clean. In this career, you are responsible for cleaning your client’s toilets, bathtubs, floors, kitchens, and living spaces, emptying trash cans and recycling, and ensuring the general cleanliness of the location. Many housekeeping professionals work in the hotel and hospitality industry, where they perform housekeeping services for guests. They may replace towels, tidy the room, and clean rooms between guests.

• Cna

  Salary range: $28,600 - $39,600

  A CNA, or certified nursing assistant or certified nursing aide, is an assistant to RNs (registered nurses) and LPNs (licensed practical nurses) on the medical staff. CNAs to tend to the patients within their ward, completing tasks that the RNs and LPNs may not have the time to complete. In some cases, a CNA may be the medical attendant a patient interacts with most frequently. Daily duties for a CNA may include bathing and grooming patients, assisting patients with the intake of food or medicine, checking vital signs, and dressing wounds. A CNA ensures that all rooms are tidy and sanitized, bedpans are empty, and linens are fresh. Additionally, a CNA should be comfortable documenting their patients’ conditions and any changes that may have occurred to communicate this information to the assigned nurses or physicians for each case.

• Pediatric Cna

  Salary range: $28,600 - $39,600

  As a pediatric CNA, or certified nursing assistant, your responsibilities are to provide nurses with administrative and technical support, work closely with children, and assist patient care and treatment at the hospital or medical facility at which you work. Pediatric CNA duties include bathing and feeding patients, checking patients’ vital signs, including their temperature and blood pressure, and listening to and observing patients for signs of distress, which you promptly report to a nurse or other senior clinician. In some states, CNAs are allowed to dispense medication, while in other states, only a nurse can do so.

• Phlebotomist

  Salary range: $28,600 - $35,800

  Phlebotomists are medical professionals who draw blood and collect other samples for testing or donation. The samples are then sent to a medical lab for analysis; physicians use the results to diagnose conditions such as chronic disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Due to the high risk of spreading infection when handling blood and other tissue, Phlebotomists must ensure they wear gloves and that all their equipment is sterile. As a Phlebotomist, you need to cross-check all your labels to make sure they are accurate and match the patient. You may work with patients of many different ages—from newborns to elderly patients—so you should be friendly and learn how to interact well with all types of people.

• Pharmacy Technician

  Salary range: $29,500 - $35,800

  Pharmacy technicians work under pharmacists, fulfilling several important duties. They are responsible for distributing prescription and nonprescription medications and providing patients with important information regarding their medicine. They may also be responsible for putting orders together, supervising other staff members, and managing the dispensary.

• Delivery Driver

  Salary range: $28,200 - $35,400

  A delivery driver is a transportation professional who delivers well over short or long distances. As a delivery driver, you are responsible for delivering goods on time and with care, and tracking all deliveries. Depending on the job, you may be responsible for anything from supplies, to packages, to food—anything that can be delivered by vehicle. You may travel locally or long distances, requiring time away from home.

• Driver

  Salary range: $25,300 - $35,400

  Drivers operate motor vehicles to transport cargo or passengers between locations. The kind of vehicle they drive vary, depending on the type of company they work for and what industry they work in. For example, a commercial truck driver may transport consumer goods between warehouses and retail locations. Bus and taxi drivers pick up and drop off passengers at various locations along a specific route. Couriers collect packages from businesses and deliver them to their destination in a short timeframe. Many different industries need qualified professional drivers, including construction, health care, commerce, and the commercial trucking and passenger transportation industries.

• Receptionist

  Salary range: $26,500 - $34,900

  Receptionists work in an administrative role in an office or other setting. They greet clients, patients, vendors, or anyone else who enters the company’s office or facility. The Receptionist is typically the first person you see representing the company, so part of their job is to make a good impression on everyone they meet. They also answer phones and other administrative tasks. Specific job duties depend upon the industry in which they are employed.

• Forklift Operator

  Salary range: $28,600 - $33,700

  Forklift operators operate forklifts and other equipment to distribute, store, and move goods and cargo. This job combines operating heavy machinery while driving through tight spaces, moving freight, and making sure the whole operation is completed safely and efficiently.

• Security Officer

  Salary range: $26,900 - $32,000

  Security Officers, also known as Security Guards, monitor people or property to identify or prevent criminal activity. They may use alarms and surveillance equipment, control access at a gate, or patrol a property on foot to ensure safety and security. Security Officers are usually uniformed and may be armed. Some Security Officers patrol areas in vehicles and respond to alarms.

• Custodian

  Salary range: $24,000 - $30,700

  Custodians are responsible for keeping a space clean and managing the inventory of various cleaning supplies. Their primary responsibilities include cleaning various surfaces, performing light maintenance, following safety standards (such as identifying wet floors or closing down areas for cleaning), and reporting discrepancies. They may work during, before, or after regular business hours.

• Server

  Salary range: $18,100 - $30,300

  A server is someone who works in a restaurant, providing customer service to restaurant patrons. Servers are responsible for greeting customers, taking orders, bringing their food and drinks, and clearing their plates when finished. They work long shifts on their feet and must be able to work under pressure.

• Stocker

  Salary range: $23,600 - $29,500

  A stocker is a retail store employee who is in charge of stocking merchandise on the shelves and displays. As a stocker, your responsibilities include moving products from the storage room to the sales floor, removing the items from their shipping packages, and placing them on the appropriate merchandise shelves. You may also update price tags on shelves or the products themselves. Your job is to quickly, neatly, and efficiently stock the store, which requires time management skills and physical stamina. You may also have cleaning duties. You do not need any formal education for a stocker job.

• Cleaner

  Salary range: $23,600 - $28,600

  While there are different types of cleaners, they are all professionals who clean homes or businesses. They may be domestic workers who live in, or on the same property as, the house they clean. They may offer cleaning services as an individual or through an agency. Cleaners may clean (kitchens, bathrooms, floors, windows), change sheets, make beds, vacuum, and do general tidying-up. Responsibilities vary depending on the employer and the needs of the space.