Bill and Account Collectors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,455
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,455
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,662
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
$42,910
Kept after tax
$35,455
Worth in national money
$37,662
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays bill and account collectors a middle wage of $42,910, 43 of 51 states and about 8.76% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, bill and account collectors ranks 383. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $42,910 you keep $35,455, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,662 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $42,730, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- North Carolina's $42,910 median for bill and account collectors places it 43 of 51 states, about 8.76% 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.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, bill and account collectors ranks 383 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for bill and account collectors on $42,910 is $35,455. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,662 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 $42,730 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Bill and Account Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,720 |
| This salary | $42,910 |
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 | $35,455 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,658 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$62 |
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 | $41,412 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$75 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 bill and account collectors in North Carolina earn under $42,910 and half over. The published range runs $24,960 at the tenth percentile to $58,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $35,455 take-home in North Carolina comes from $42,910. 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 383 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,662 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 383.
- Figures are distribution medians for bill and account collectors in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,960 to $58,720; 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 $35,455, from $42,910, 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 383 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,662, worked from $42,910, 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 383 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $24,960, the highest tenth $58,720, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $37,662 in national terms.
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 Carolina's own levy, $35,455 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($24,960) and the ninetieth ($58,720) 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 $37,662 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 $35,455 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.