600+ Retail Jobs in Raleigh, NC

Observed government pay for the common frontline track is modest: retail salespersons in Raleigh-Cary had a 2025 median of $33,100, with a 25th-75th range of $28,700 to $37,200. Pay improves materially in store leadership: first-line supervisors of retail sales workers had a 2025 median of $49,300 and a 75th percentile of $63,580. Proxy posting data is noisier: hourly-paid retail postings center on about $15 to $16 / hour, while broader posted salary ranges center on about $55k to $76k because the sample mixes hourly floor roles with salaried supervisory and specialty roles.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 280 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $29,120 at the 25th percentile, $32,240 at the median and $36,400 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 16, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

Open all in AI Job Search

What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

Raleigh-Cary is a balanced retail market right now: the metro labor market is healthy, with 3.1% unemployment in August 2026 and total nonfarm employment up 2.2338% year over year, but the local Trade, Transportation, and Utilities base that contains much retail was down 0.2292% year over year. Retail openings are present and spread across employers, with more than 850 postings across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days. But the sharper state-level retail signal looks more like churn than a boom, because North Carolina retail employment was essentially flat year over year while active retail postings were up 13.9% year over year. That is good enough for active job seekers who are flexible on schedule, employer type, and fully on-site work, but not a market where you should expect easy pay jumps or lots of remote options.

Best positioned: Candidates with recent in-store experience plus inventory management, merchandising, cash-handling, and loss-prevention skills have the best odds, especially with chain retailers and grocery-led employers such as Food Lion, LLC.

Main caution: The biggest mistake is reading salaried posting bands as typical frontline pay, because hourly retail postings center on about $15 to $16 / hour while the 2025 BLS median for retail salespersons in Raleigh-Cary was $33,100 a year.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 630 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Food Lion, LLC.: 59 open roles
2. AutoZone, Inc.: 19 open roles
3. Dollar General: 19 open roles
4. Wake County Public School System: 17 open roles
5. The TJX Companies, Inc.: 16 open roles
6. Lowe's: 13 open roles
7. Bath & Body Works: 12 open roles
8. DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.: 12 open roles
9. Macy's, Inc.: 12 open roles
10. Target Corp: 11 open roles

Where the openings are

• Raleigh: 223
• Durham: 129
• Cary: 68
• Garner: 42
• Smithfield: 30
• Morrisville: 30
• Holly Springs: 17
• Apex: 16

Work arrangement

on-site 605 (99%), hybrid 3 (0%), remote 2 (0%)

Where the demand is

This is not a tiny niche in Raleigh-Cary. The metro had 18,660 retail salespersons and 5,650 first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in 2025, and sales-and-related occupations accounted for 10.1% of local employment, above the 8.6% national share. In current hiring signals, the opportunity is spread across a long tail: more than 850 postings across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days, with fragmented employer concentration rather than one dominant chain. Most of the visible opportunity sits in core retail environments. Within sampled postings, about 80% came from general retail, with smaller pockets in retail apparel and fashion at about 5% and department, clothing, and shoe stores at about 5%. Food Lion, LLC. stands out as the most consistently active named employer in the sample, with more than 50 postings. The practical concentration is by job level and work style. About 75% of sampled postings are entry-level, about 95% or more are on-site, and the most-requested skills cluster around inventory management, customer service, merchandising, cash handling, visual merchandising, and loss prevention. That means the easiest path in is not 'sales talent' in the abstract; it is operational reliability on the floor, in the stockroom, and at the register.

• Chain grocery and general retail store roles (high): This is the highest-volume segment, supported by core retail's about 80% share of sampled postings and visible chain activity led by Food Lion, LLC.
• Apparel, mall, and department-store hiring (moderate): This is a smaller pocket of the market, but it got a timely boost from AKIRA's planned Crabtree Valley Mall opening and recruiting activity.
• Store leadership and supervision (limited): These roles pay better, but they sit in a much smaller slice of the market than entry-level openings and require proof of execution beyond customer service alone.

Where to focus: Prioritize chain retailers where you can market inventory accuracy plus customer service, because that is where hiring volume and transferable skill demand overlap most cleanly.

Roles worth searching next

• Customer service representative: Retail already rewards customer service and cash-handling skills, so this is the cleanest bridge for candidates who want less floor work.
• Inventory coordinator or stockroom clerk: Inventory management is the strongest local retail skill signal, so moving toward back-room, receiving, or inventory-control work is a natural fit.
• Bank teller or branch service representative: Cash handling and customer-facing trust transfer well, and North Carolina financial activities employment was 311.7 thousand in August 2026, up +0.2% year over year, which points to a steady sector backdrop.
• Front desk or patient access representative: Retail service experience translates to check-in, scheduling, and customer resolution work, and education and health services nationally was up 1.9% year over year in September 2026.

What postings ask for

• Inventory management (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most-requested hard skill in sampled Raleigh-Cary retail postings, appearing in about 35% of them. Who: Entry-level applicants, stock associates, and career switchers from warehouse-light or service roles.
• Customer service (table_stakes | immediate): It appears in about 25% of the latest local sample, and an earlier local sample found it in about 45% of postings, so it travels across sub-roles even when titles differ. Who: Everyone, especially candidates without direct retail experience.
• Merchandising and visual merchandising (differentiator | immediate): Merchandising appears in about 25% of sampled postings and visual merchandising in about 15%, which helps you stand out from pure cashier applicants. Who: Applicants aiming at apparel, department-store, and brand-presentation roles.
• Cash handling and POS accuracy (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling shows up in about 25% of sampled postings, making it a core trust signal for frontline hiring. Who: Cashiers, sales associates, and candidates coming from food service or hospitality.
• Loss prevention awareness (differentiator | near-term): Loss prevention appears in about 15% of sampled postings and becomes more valuable as employers try to hire beyond basic register coverage. Who: Mid-career applicants and anyone targeting key-holder or supervisor-track roles.
• High school diploma or equivalent (table_stakes | immediate): Among postings that state an education requirement, the market is centered on high school completion rather than college credentials. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers who need to know the minimum bar.

Questions about this market

What do Retail roles pay in Raleigh-Cary, NC?

Observed government pay for the common frontline track is modest: retail salespersons in Raleigh-Cary had a 2025 median of $33,100, with a 25th-75th range of $28,700 to $37,200. Pay improves materially in store leadership: first-line supervisors of retail sales workers had a 2025 median of $49,300 and a 75th percentile of $63,580. Proxy posting data is noisier: hourly-paid retail postings center on about $15 to $16 / hour, while broader posted salary ranges center on about $55k to $76k because the sample mixes hourly floor roles with salaried supervisory and specialty roles. This is a moderate-pay, broad-access market. The broad sales-and-related group averaged $28.52 per hour in Raleigh-Cary in May 2025, below the metro-wide all-occupation mean of $34.01 per hour.

Where is demand for Retail roles in Raleigh-Cary, NC concentrated?

This is not a tiny niche in Raleigh-Cary. The metro had 18,660 retail salespersons and 5,650 first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in 2025, and sales-and-related occupations accounted for 10.1% of local employment, above the 8.6% national share. In current hiring signals, the opportunity is spread across a long tail: more than 850 postings across more than 250 companies over the last 90 days, with fragmented employer concentration rather than one dominant chain. Most of the visible opportunity sits in core retail environments. Within sampled postings, about 80% came from general retail, with smaller pockets in retail apparel and fashion at about 5% and department, clothing, and shoe stores at about 5%. Food Lion, LLC. stands out as the most consistently active named employer in the sample, with more than 50 postings. The practical concentration is by job level and work style. About 75% of sampled postings are entry-level, about 95% or more are on-site, and the most-requested skills cluster around inventory management, customer service, merchandising, cash handling, visual merchandising, and loss prevention. That means the easiest path in is not 'sales talent' in the abstract; it is operational reliability on the floor, in the stockroom, and at the register.

Which employers are hiring the most Retail talent in Raleigh-Cary, NC?

Recent postings show the most activity from Food Lion, LLC. (50 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Retail roles in Raleigh-Cary, NC be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 0% are remote and 5% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Explore related openings

Retail jobs in other metros

• Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
• Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
• Kansas City, MO-KS
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Other roles in Raleigh-Cary, NC

• Software, IT & Cybersecurity
• Operations, Supply Chain & Logistics
• Sales, Customer Success & Account Management
• Engineering & Scientific
• Healthcare Practitioners
• Media, Journalism & Entertainment
• Finance & Accounting
• Education & Training

Browse all job openings | Browse jobs by title and state | Browse all job market reports