Cashiers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,741
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,139
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,282
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
$28,880
Kept after tax
$24,741
Worth in national money
$26,282
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays cashiers a middle wage of $28,880, 41 of 51 states and about 12.17% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, cashiers ranks 483. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,880 you keep $24,741, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,282 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $29,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's $28,880 median for cashiers places it 41 of 51 states, about 12.17% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, cashiers ranks 483 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for cashiers on $28,880 is $24,741. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,282 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 $29,390 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: Cashiers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,810 |
| This salary | $28,880 |
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 | $24,741 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,385 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$159 |
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 | $28,089 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$192 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $28,880 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,450 and the ninetieth is $35,810 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $24,741 take-home in North Carolina comes from $28,880. 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 483 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 $26,282, the adjusted value of that $28,880 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 483 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $28,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,450 to $35,810. 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 $24,741, from $28,880, 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 483 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $26,282 — the adjusted value of that $28,880 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 483 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $22,450 at the tenth percentile, $35,810 at the ninetieth.
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 $26,282 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 $24,741.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,450 to $35,810) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $26,282 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 $24,741 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.