Cashiers in North Dakota

A bright independent shop with household goods on wooden shelves.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$27,458

after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax

Tax takes

$4,002

12.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$31,001

North Dakota costs less than average

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

$31,460

Kept after tax

$27,458

Worth in national money

$31,001

State rank

23

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for cashiers. The median is $31,460, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Measured against other jobs in North Dakota, this one sits low: 447 of 460 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $31,460 you keep $27,458, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,001 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $32,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • North Dakota occupies the middle band for cashiers: a median of $31,460, ranking 23 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • Cashiers occupies position 447 of 460 in North Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
  • After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for cashiers on $31,460 is $27,458. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,001 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 $32,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Cashiers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$27,870
Half earn under$31,460
Top tenth earn over$37,330
This salary$31,460

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

Compare with
$0take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in North Dakota$27,458
Take-home in Texas$27,458
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,745

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

Moving to
$0$34,779
$34,779in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$31,460
Raise you would need+$3,319
Prices in Texas97 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 cashiers in North Dakota earn under $31,460 and half over. The published range runs $27,870 at the tenth percentile to $37,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • In North Dakota the take-home figure of $27,458, from $31,460, 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 447 of 460 occupations here.
  • The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,001 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 447.
  • Figures are distribution medians for cashiers in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,870 to $37,330; 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.
  • Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $27,458 from $31,460. 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 447 of 460 locally.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,001, worked from $31,460, 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 447 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 $32,700 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $27,870 at the bottom tenth to $37,330 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $31,001.

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, $27,458 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 $32,700. 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 ($27,870 to $37,330) 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 $31,001 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 $27,458 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.