Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,047
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$11,143
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,279
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
$67,190
Kept after tax
$56,047
Worth in national money
$63,279
State rank
36
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $67,190, 36 of 49 states and about 14.54% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 167.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $67,190 you keep $56,047, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,279 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $73,000, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Dakota's $67,190 median for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary places it 36 of 49 states, about 14.54% 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.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary sits at 167 of 460 — 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 Dakota income tax, retained pay for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary on $67,190 is $56,047. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,279 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 $73,000 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,570 |
| This salary | $67,190 |
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 | $56,047 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,098 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,550 |
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 | $67,118 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,666 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $67,190 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,790 and the ninetieth is $107,570 — 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 $56,047, worked from $67,190. 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 167 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,279 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 167.
- The North Dakota median of $67,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,790 to $107,570. 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 $56,047, on $67,190 for work ranking 167 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 167 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,279, worked from $67,190, 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 167 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 $73,000, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,790 at the bottom tenth to $107,570 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 Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $63,279 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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $56,047 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $73,000. 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 ($50,790) and the ninetieth ($107,570) 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 $63,279 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 $56,047 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.
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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.