Budget Analysts in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,986
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$18,364
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,970
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
$82,350
Kept after tax
$63,986
Worth in national money
$67,970
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for budget analysts. The middle earner takes $82,350, ranking 35 of 51 states — about 10.14% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, budget analysts ranks 97 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $82,350 you keep $63,986, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,970 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina ranks 35 of 51 for budget analysts, with a median of $82,350 — about 10.14% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, budget analysts sits 97 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for budget analysts on $82,350 is $63,986. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,970 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 $87,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Budget Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,560 |
| This salary | $82,350 |
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 | $63,986 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,763 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$734 |
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 | $78,403 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,014 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 Carolina earn less than $82,350. The published range is $59,050 up to $128,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $63,986 take-home in North Carolina comes from $82,350. 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 97 of 489.
- Two cautions on $67,970, the adjusted value of that $82,350 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. 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 97 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for budget analysts in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,050 to $128,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $63,986, from $82,350, 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 97 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- This $67,970 adjusted figure, worked from $82,350, 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 97 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 97 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 $87,630, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $59,050 and the top tenth $128,560 — 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 Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $67,970 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $63,986 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 $87,630. 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 ($59,050) and the ninetieth ($128,560) 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 $67,970 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 $63,986 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.