Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,476
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$21,654
23.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,864
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
$92,130
Kept after tax
$70,476
Worth in national money
$74,864
State rank
27
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 27 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $92,130. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations North Carolina reports, this job comes in at 79 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $92,130 you keep $70,476 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $74,864 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $106,270, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 27 of 48 for clinical and counseling psychologists at $92,130. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 79 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $70,476 after the full tax stack, from $92,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $74,864 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $106,270 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,160 |
| This salary | $92,130 |
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 | $70,476 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,643 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$920 |
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 | $87,628 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,271 |
| 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 clinical and counseling psychologists in North Carolina earn under $92,130 and half over. The published range runs $52,890 at the tenth percentile to $213,160 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 Carolina's $70,476, worked from $92,130. 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 79 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 $74,864, the adjusted value of that $92,130 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 79 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for clinical and counseling psychologists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,890 to $213,160; 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 Carolina take-home of $70,476, on $92,130 for work ranking 79 of 489 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 79 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $74,864 — the adjusted value of that $92,130 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 79 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $106,270, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $52,890 at the bottom tenth to $213,160 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 $74,864 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 $70,476 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $106,270. 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 ($52,890) and the ninetieth ($213,160) 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 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 $74,864 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 $70,476 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.