Atmospheric and Space Scientists in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,716
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$18,844
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,098
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
$91,560
Kept after tax
$72,716
Worth in national money
$82,098
State rank
32
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for atmospheric and space scientists is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $91,560. That is 32 of 47 states, and about 7.58% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within North Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 460 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 66 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $91,560 you keep $72,716 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $82,098 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $94,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- For atmospheric and space scientists, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $91,560, ranking 32 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 7.58%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation North Dakota publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 66 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 $72,716 after the full tax stack, from $91,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $82,098 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $94,450 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $91,560 |
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 | $72,716 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,242 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,727 |
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 | $90,812 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,292 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of atmospheric and space scientists in North Dakota earn under $91,560 and half over. The published range runs $48,570 at the tenth percentile to $136,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $72,716, worked from $91,560. 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 66 of 460.
- Two cautions on $82,098, the adjusted value of that $91,560 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 66 of 460 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for atmospheric and space scientists in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,570 to $136,990; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The North Dakota take-home of $72,716, on $91,560 for work ranking 66 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 66 of 460 in the state.
- This $82,098 adjusted figure, worked from $91,560, 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 66 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 66 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 $94,450, 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 $48,570 at the bottom tenth to $136,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $82,098 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $72,716 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $94,450. 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 ($48,570) and the ninetieth ($136,990) 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 $82,098 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 $72,716 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.