Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,251
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,559
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,881
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
$51,810
Kept after tax
$42,251
Worth in national money
$44,881
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 33 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $51,810. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 262.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,810 you keep $42,251, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,881 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina ranks 33 of 50 for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors at $51,810. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors sits at 262 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors on $51,810 is $42,251. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,881 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $54,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,130 |
| This salary | $51,810 |
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 | $42,251 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,809 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$202 |
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 | $49,870 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$244 |
| 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 adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors in North Carolina earn under $51,810 and half over. The published range runs $40,440 at the tenth percentile to $72,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,251 take-home in North Carolina comes from $51,810. 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 262 of 489.
- Two cautions on $44,881, the adjusted value of that $51,810 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 262 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,440 to $72,130; 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 $42,251, from $51,810, 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 262 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 50 for it.
- This $44,881 adjusted figure, worked from $51,810, 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 262 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 262 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 $54,100 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,440 and the top tenth $72,130, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $44,881 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $42,251.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $54,100. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,440 to $72,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $44,881 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 $42,251 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.