Amusement and Recreation Attendants in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,726
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,344
11.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,916
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$28,070
Kept after tax
$24,726
Worth in national money
$27,916
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $28,070, 35 of 51 states and about 12.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 459. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $28,070 you keep $24,726 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,916 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $29,280, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota's $28,070 median for amusement and recreation attendants places it 35 of 51 states, about 12.69% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, amusement and recreation attendants ranks 459 of 460, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $24,726 after the full tax stack, from $28,070. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,916 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $29,280 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Amusement and Recreation Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,030 |
| This salary | $28,070 |
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 Dakota | $24,726 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,726 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,471 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $28,070 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,978 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $28,070 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,950 and the ninetieth is $36,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $24,726, from $28,070, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 459 of 460 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,916 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 459.
- The North Dakota median of $28,070 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,950 to $36,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,726 from $28,070. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 459 of 460 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,916, worked from $28,070, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Dakota address, on work sitting at 459 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $29,280, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $23,950 at the bottom tenth to $36,030 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $27,916 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and North Dakota's own levy, $24,726 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Dakota is $29,280. 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 ($23,950 to $36,030) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $27,916 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 $24,726 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.