To run an NC state employee salary lookup, use the Office of the State Controller’s online salary database at ncosc.gov. It covers active permanent and temporary employees paid through the state’s Integrated HR-Payroll System and updates on the first business day of each month. Teachers, UNC System employees, community college staff, county and city workers, and General Assembly employees are not in it and have to be looked up elsewhere.1North Carolina Office of the State Controller. State Employee Salary Database
How to Search the OSC Database
Go to the OSC salary database search page. You’ll see three filters you can use alone or together:2North Carolina Office of the State Controller. State Employee Salary Database Search
- Agency, a dropdown of every state agency in the system.
- Employee Name, a text field that accepts a full or partial name.
- Job Title, a dropdown of state job classifications.
Clicking Search with no filters returns every active employee in the system. Once results load, any column header sorts by that column, which is useful for ranking employees within an agency by pay. You can also download the results, and the download will include only the records that matched your filters.2North Carolina Office of the State Controller. State Employee Salary Database Search
Who Isn’t in the OSC Database
This is the most common dead end. The OSC database only covers people paid through the central state payroll, and it explicitly excludes public school teachers, UNC System employees, community college employees, county employees, and General Assembly employees.1North Carolina Office of the State Controller. State Employee Salary Database A blank result for a professor or a classroom teacher doesn’t mean the salary is hidden. It’s tracked in a different place.
UNC System Employees
The University of North Carolina System runs its own salary database covering permanent employees across every constituent institution, including UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, UNC Charlotte, and East Carolina. It’s searchable by name or job title and shows position and salary.3The University of North Carolina. UNC Salary Information Database
Public School Teachers
Teacher pay follows a statewide salary schedule the General Assembly approves each year, based on years of experience and education level. The Department of Public Instruction posts the 2025-26 schedules and the full State Salary Manual on its compensation page.4NC Department of Public Instruction. Compensation for Public School Employees Many districts add a local supplement on top of the state schedule, so actual pay varies by county. For a specific teacher’s total compensation, the school district’s human resources office is the most reliable source.
County, Municipal, and General Assembly Employees
County and city workers are not state employees, and there’s no statewide database for them. Their salaries are still public records under Chapter 132, but you’ll need to contact the local government directly or check whether it publishes salary data on its own site.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 132 – Section 132-1 Larger cities and counties often do; smaller ones often don’t. For General Assembly staff salaries, a records request to the General Assembly’s administrative offices is the direct route.
Putting a Salary in Context With Pay Grades
Once you find someone’s salary in the OSC database, the Office of State Human Resources publishes the classification and compensation salary schedule that shows where that number falls in its pay grade. Grades run NC01 through NC30, each with a range minimum, midpoint, and maximum. If someone in an NC12 role earns $59,000, the schedule shows that grade’s minimum at $47,703 and midpoint at $65,591, so the salary sits in the lower half of the range.6NC Office of Human Resources. Salary Schedule NC
When to File a Public Records Request
If the online tools don’t have what you need, or you want more than base pay, North Carolina law is on your side. Chapter 132 makes agency records public and requires copies at the actual cost of reproduction.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 132 – Section 132-1 A separate statute requires every state department, agency, and institution to maintain and release personnel information including name, age, original hire date, current position and title, current salary, salary history, promotion history, and current office. That same statute defines “salary” broadly to include pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and all other forms of compensation.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 126 – Section 126-23
There’s no universal form. For most executive-branch agencies, a written request by email to the agency’s public records officer works. Be specific: name the employee or position, identify the agency, and state that you’re requesting personnel records under Chapter 132 and GS 126-23. The Judicial Branch uses its own public records request form on the NC Courts website.8North Carolina Judicial Branch. Request a Public Record
What the Salary Number Actually Represents
The figure in the OSC database and the UNC database is almost always annual base pay as of the last update. It doesn’t include overtime, bonuses, longevity pay, or the value of benefits like health insurance and retirement contributions. Two employees with identical base salaries can have meaningfully different total compensation depending on tenure, benefit elections, and whether the role earns overtime. Because GS 126-23 defines salary to cover all forms of compensation, you can request the full picture from the employing agency if you need it.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 126 – Section 126-23
If a number looks surprisingly low or high, check whether the position is part-time or whether what you’re seeing is an hourly rate rather than an annual figure. If something still seems off, the human resources office at the employing agency can clarify.