Accountants and Auditors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,787
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$18,263
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,758
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$82,050
Kept after tax
$63,787
Worth in national money
$67,758
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is one of the better-paying states for accountants and auditors. The middle earner takes $82,050, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 1.95% above the national middle.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, accountants and auditors ranks 98 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,050 the take-home is $63,787; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $67,758 would nationally. The average comes to $93,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for accountants and auditors, at $82,050 — about 1.95% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, accountants and auditors sits 98 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for accountants and auditors in North Carolina, on $82,050, is $63,787 — equivalent to $67,758 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $93,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $146,100 |
| This salary | $82,050 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in North Carolina | $63,787 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,552 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$729 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $78,120 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,006 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of accountants and auditors in North Carolina earn under $82,050 and half over. The published range runs $53,610 at the tenth percentile to $146,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $63,787 take-home in North Carolina comes from $82,050. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 98 of 489.
- Two cautions on $67,758, the adjusted value of that $82,050 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 98 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for accountants and auditors in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $53,610 to $146,100; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $63,787, from $82,050, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 98 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- This $67,758 adjusted figure, worked from $82,050, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 98 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 98 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $93,810 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $53,610 and the top tenth $146,100 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $67,758 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $63,787.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in North Carolina is $93,810. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($53,610) and the ninetieth ($146,100) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $67,758 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $63,787 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.