Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in North Dakota

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,522
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$26,608
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$101,073
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
$116,130
Kept after tax
$89,522
Worth in national money
$101,073
State rank
7
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $116,130, ranking 7 of 48 states and sitting about 15.46% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 23 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $116,130 you keep $89,522 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $101,073 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $109,570.
- North Dakota's median for clinical and counseling psychologists is $116,130, about 15.46% above the national figure and 7 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within North Dakota, clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 23 of 460 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $89,522 after the full tax stack, from $116,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $101,073 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $109,570 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $116,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $148,320 |
| This salary | $116,130 |
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 Dakota | $89,522 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $90,527 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,914 |
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 | $114,701 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,085 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Dakota earn less than $116,130. The published range is $69,520 up to $148,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $89,522, worked from $116,130. 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 23 of 460.
- Two cautions on $101,073, the adjusted value of that $116,130 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 23 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for clinical and counseling psychologists in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,520 to $148,320. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Dakota take-home of $89,522, on $116,130 for work ranking 23 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 23 of 460 in the state.
- This $101,073 adjusted figure, worked from $116,130, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 23 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 23 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 $109,570 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 $69,520 at the bottom tenth to $148,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $101,073 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 Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $89,522.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $109,570. 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 ($69,520 to $148,320) 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 $101,073 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 $89,522 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.
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.