Architects, Except Landscape and Naval in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,512
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$20,598
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,384
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
$97,110
Kept after tax
$76,512
Worth in national money
$86,384
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $97,110, ranking 28 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 well-paid work. Of 460 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 58 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $97,110 you keep $76,512 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $86,384 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $101,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for architects, except landscape and naval: a median of $97,110, ranking 28 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.
- Ranked against every occupation North Dakota publishes a median for, architects, except landscape and naval sits 58 of 460 — 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.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $76,512 after the full tax stack, from $97,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $86,384 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $101,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $75,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,140 |
| This salary | $97,110 |
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 | $76,512 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,147 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,995 |
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 | $96,208 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,662 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Dakota earn less than $97,110. The published range is $75,000 up to $137,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $76,512, from $97,110, 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 58 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $86,384, the adjusted value of that $97,110 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 58 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for architects, except landscape and naval in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $75,000 to $137,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $76,512 from $97,110. 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 58 of 460 locally.
- This $86,384 adjusted figure, worked from $97,110, 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 58 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 of 460 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 $101,930 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $75,000 at the bottom tenth to $137,140 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $86,384.
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 $76,512.
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 $101,930. 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 ($75,000 to $137,140) 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 $86,384 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 $76,512 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.