Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,269
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$10,841
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,401
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
$66,110
Kept after tax
$55,269
Worth in national money
$62,401
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. North Dakota's middle earner gets $66,110, putting the state 15 of 51 — about 7.03% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 170.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $66,110 you keep $55,269 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $62,401 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $68,600, since top earners drag the number up.
- For bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, North Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $66,110, ranking 15 of 51 and running about 7.03% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists sits at 170 of 460 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $55,269 after the full tax stack, from $66,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $62,401 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $68,600 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,520 |
| This salary | $66,110 |
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 | $55,269 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,299 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,494 |
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 | $66,073 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,533 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $66,110 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,790 and the ninetieth is $91,520 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $55,269 take-home in North Dakota comes from $66,110. 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 170 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $62,401 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 170.
- The North Dakota median of $66,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,790 to $91,520. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $55,269, from $66,110, 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 170 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $62,401, worked from $66,110, 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 170 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 $68,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,790 and the top tenth $91,520, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $62,401 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, $55,269 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 $68,600. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,790 to $91,520) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
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 $62,401 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 $55,269 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.