Bartenders in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,514
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,526
12.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,806
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
$29,040
Kept after tax
$25,514
Worth in national money
$28,806
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for bartenders. The median is $29,040, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in North Dakota, this one sits low: 456 of 460 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $29,040 you keep $25,514 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,806 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,390, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for bartenders: a median of $29,040, ranking 30 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.
- Bartenders occupies position 456 of 460 in North Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $25,514 after the full tax stack, from $29,040. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,806 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,390 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $18,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,050 |
| This salary | $29,040 |
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 | $25,514 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,550 |
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 | $29,040 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,084 |
| 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 bartenders in North Dakota earn under $29,040 and half over. The published range runs $18,850 at the tenth percentile to $57,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $25,514 take-home in North Dakota comes from $29,040. 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 456 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,806 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 456.
- Figures are distribution medians for bartenders in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $18,850 to $57,050; 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.
- Retained pay of $25,514, from $29,040, assumes a single North Dakota 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 456 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,806, worked from $29,040, 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 456 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 $33,390 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 $18,850 and the top tenth $57,050 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $28,806 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, $25,514 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $33,390. 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 ($18,850) and the ninetieth ($57,050) 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 $28,806 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 $25,514 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.