Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,523
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$14,597
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,719
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
$78,120
Kept after tax
$63,523
Worth in national money
$71,719
State rank
18
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $78,120, ranking 18 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within North Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 460 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 115 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,120 the take-home is $63,523; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,719 would nationally. The average comes to $83,000, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for communications teachers, postsecondary: a median of $78,120, ranking 18 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation North Dakota publishes a median for, communications teachers, postsecondary sits 115 of 460 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for communications teachers, postsecondary in North Dakota, on $78,120, is $63,523 — equivalent to $71,719 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $83,000 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $108,960 |
| This salary | $78,120 |
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 | $63,523 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,787 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,078 |
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 | $77,745 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,395 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,120 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,990 and the ninetieth is $108,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $63,523 take-home in North Dakota comes from $78,120. 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 115 of 460.
- Two cautions on $71,719, the adjusted value of that $78,120 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 115 of 460 locally.
- The North Dakota median of $78,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,990 to $108,960. 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 $63,523, from $78,120, assumes a single North Dakota 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 115 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 48 for it.
- This $71,719 adjusted figure, worked from $78,120, 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 115 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 115 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $83,000, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,990 and the top tenth $108,960, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $71,719.
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, $63,523 remains.
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 Dakota is $83,000. 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 ($52,990 to $108,960) 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 $71,719 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 $63,523 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.