Animal Caretakers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,531
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,509
13.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,341
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
$34,040
Kept after tax
$29,531
Worth in national money
$33,341
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for animal caretakers. The median is $34,040, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal caretakers ranks 444. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,040 you keep $29,531, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,341 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for animal caretakers: a median of $34,040, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, animal caretakers ranks 444 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $34,040 is $29,531. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,341 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 $39,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,170 |
| This salary | $34,040 |
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 | $29,531 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,531 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,952 |
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 | $34,040 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,570 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,040 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,960 and the ninetieth is $62,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $29,531, worked from $34,040. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 444 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,341 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 444.
- The North Dakota median of $34,040 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,960 to $62,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Dakota take-home of $29,531, on $34,040 for work ranking 444 of 460 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 444 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,341, worked from $34,040, 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 444 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $39,460, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $29,960 at the bottom tenth to $62,170 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,341.
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 Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $29,531.
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 Dakota is $39,460. 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 ($29,960) and the ninetieth ($62,170) 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 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 $33,341 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 $29,531 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.