Animal Caretakers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,261
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,609
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,896
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
$30,870
Kept after tax
$26,261
Worth in national money
$27,896
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays animal caretakers around $30,870 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, animal caretakers lands at 474. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $30,870 you keep $26,261, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,896 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $33,870, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For animal caretakers the North Carolina median is $30,870, ranking 33 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 474 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $30,870 is $26,261. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,896 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 $33,870 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,120 |
| This salary | $30,870 |
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 | $26,261 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,984 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$128 |
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 | $29,970 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$154 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $30,870. The published range is $23,210 up to $46,120, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $26,261, from $30,870, 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 474 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $27,896, the adjusted value of that $30,870 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 474 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for animal caretakers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,210 to $46,120. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,261 from $30,870. 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 474 of 489 locally.
- This $27,896 adjusted figure, worked from $30,870, 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 474 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 474 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 $33,870 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,210 at the bottom tenth to $46,120 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $27,896 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,261 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Carolina is $33,870. 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 ($23,210) and the ninetieth ($46,120) 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 $27,896 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 $26,261 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.