Butchers and Meat Cutters in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,384
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,696
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,821
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
$40,080
Kept after tax
$34,384
Worth in national money
$38,821
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Dakota pays butchers and meat cutters around $40,080 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 460 occupations North Dakota publishes, butchers and meat cutters lands at 390. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $40,080 the take-home is $34,384; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,821 would nationally. The average comes to $40,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For butchers and meat cutters the North Dakota median is $40,080, ranking 25 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within North Dakota, this work ranks 390 of 460 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for butchers and meat cutters in North Dakota, on $40,080, is $34,384 — equivalent to $38,821 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 $40,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,160 |
| This salary | $40,080 |
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 | $34,384 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,384 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,437 |
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 | $40,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,157 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 butchers and meat cutters in North Dakota earn under $40,080 and half over. The published range runs $22,390 at the tenth percentile to $57,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $34,384, worked from $40,080. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 390 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,821 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 390.
- Figures are distribution medians for butchers and meat cutters in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,390 to $57,160; 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.
- The North Dakota take-home of $34,384, on $40,080 for work ranking 390 of 460 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 390 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,821, worked from $40,080, 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 390 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 $22,390 and the top tenth $57,160 — 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 $38,821 in national terms.
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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $34,384 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,390) and the ninetieth ($57,160) 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 $38,821 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 $34,384 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.