Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,155
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$18,585
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,465
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
$90,740
Kept after tax
$72,155
Worth in national money
$81,465
State rank
17
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Dakota is 17 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $90,740. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 70 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $90,740 the take-home is $72,155; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $81,465 would nationally. The average comes to $91,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 17 of 49 for biological science teachers, postsecondary at $90,740. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within North Dakota, biological science teachers, postsecondary ranks 70 of 460 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 Dakota, on $90,740, is $72,155 — equivalent to $81,465 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 $91,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,380 |
| This salary | $90,740 |
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 | $72,155 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,666 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,687 |
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 | $90,015 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,237 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Dakota earn less than $90,740. The published range is $49,020 up to $135,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $72,155, from $90,740, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 70 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $81,465, the adjusted value of that $90,740 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 70 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for biological science teachers, postsecondary in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,020 to $135,380. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $72,155 from $90,740. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 70 of 460 locally.
- This $81,465 adjusted figure, worked from $90,740, 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 70 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 70 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,020 and the top tenth $135,380 — 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 Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $81,465 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 Dakota's own levy, $72,155 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,020) and the ninetieth ($135,380) 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 $81,465 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 $72,155 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.