Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,900
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$16,800
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,692
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
$77,700
Kept after tax
$60,900
Worth in national money
$64,692
State rank
41
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $77,700. That is 41 of 49 states, and about 8.18% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 115 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,700 the take-home is $60,900; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $64,692 would nationally. The average comes to $87,520, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For biological science teachers, postsecondary, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $77,700, ranking 41 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 8.18%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, biological science teachers, postsecondary ranks 115 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for biological science teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina, on $77,700, is $60,900 — equivalent to $64,692 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 $87,520 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,020 |
| This salary | $77,700 |
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 | $60,900 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$646 |
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 | $74,016 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$892 |
| 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 biological science teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina earn under $77,700 and half over. The published range runs $51,490 at the tenth percentile to $136,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,900 take-home in North Carolina comes from $77,700. 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 115 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,692, the adjusted value of that $77,700 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 115 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for biological science teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,490 to $136,020; 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 $60,900, from $77,700, 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 115 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $64,692 — the adjusted value of that $77,700 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 115 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $87,520, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $51,490, the highest tenth $136,020, 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 $64,692 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $60,900.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $87,520. 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 ($51,490) and the ninetieth ($136,020) 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 $64,692 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 $60,900 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.
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.