Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,494
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,706
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,953
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
$48,200
Kept after tax
$39,494
Worth in national money
$41,953
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,200, ranking 40 of 51 states — about 4.78% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 303 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,200 the take-home is $39,494; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,953 would nationally. The average comes to $53,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 40 of 51 for automotive service technicians and mechanics, with a median of $48,200 — about 4.78% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Automotive service technicians and mechanics ranks 303 of 489 occupations in North Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for automotive service technicians and mechanics in North Carolina, on $48,200, is $39,494 — equivalent to $41,953 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $53,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,610 |
| This salary | $48,200 |
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 | $39,494 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,909 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$145 |
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 | $46,440 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$175 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,200 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,500 and the ninetieth is $79,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,494 take-home in North Carolina comes from $48,200. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 303 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,953 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 303.
- The North Carolina median of $48,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,500 to $79,610. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,494, from $48,200, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 303 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,953, worked from $48,200, 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 Carolina address, on work sitting at 303 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 $53,510 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,500 and the top tenth $79,610 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $41,953 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 $39,494 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 $53,510. 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 ($31,500) and the ninetieth ($79,610) 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 $41,953 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 $39,494 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.