Chief Executives in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$212,098
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$102,192
32.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$225,303
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
$314,290
Kept after tax
$212,098
Worth in national money
$225,303
State rank
4
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is one of the better-paying states for chief executives. The middle earner takes $314,290, which ranks 4 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 46.87% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations North Carolina reports, chief executives comes in at 1 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $314,290 you keep $212,098, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $225,303 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $347,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina ranks 4 of 46 states publishing a median for chief executives, at $314,290 — about 46.87% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Chief executives ranks 1 of 489 occupations by median in North Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for chief executives on $314,290 is $212,098. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $225,303 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 $347,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Chief Executives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $114,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $314,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $624,990 |
| This salary | $314,290 |
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 | $212,098 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $224,129 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,342 |
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 | $295,086 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,286 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 chief executives in North Carolina earn under $314,290 and half over. The published range runs $114,210 at the tenth percentile to $624,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $212,098, from $314,290, 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 1 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $225,303, the adjusted value of that $314,290 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 1 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chief executives in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $114,210 to $624,990; 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 Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $212,098 from $314,290. 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 1 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $225,303 — the adjusted value of that $314,290 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 1 of 489 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 $347,690 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $114,210 at the bottom tenth to $624,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $225,303 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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $212,098 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $347,690. 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 ($114,210) and the ninetieth ($624,990) 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 $225,303 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 $212,098 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.