Cost Estimators in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,930
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$15,800
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,598
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
$74,730
Kept after tax
$58,930
Worth in national money
$62,598
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays cost estimators a middle wage of $74,730, 42 of 51 states and about 5.09% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cost estimators ranks 131 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $74,730 you keep $58,930, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $62,598 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $78,060, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's $74,730 median for cost estimators places it 42 of 51 states, about 5.09% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 131 of 489 in North Carolina places cost estimators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for cost estimators on $74,730 is $58,930. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $62,598 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 $78,060 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,240 |
| This salary | $74,730 |
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 | $58,930 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,403 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$589 |
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 | $71,215 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$814 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 Carolina earn less than $74,730. The published range is $43,580 up to $123,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $58,930, from $74,730, 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 131 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 $62,598, the adjusted value of that $74,730 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 131 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cost estimators in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,580 to $123,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,930 from $74,730. 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 131 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $62,598 — the adjusted value of that $74,730 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 131 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 $78,060 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,580 and the top tenth $123,240 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $62,598 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $58,930 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $78,060. 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 ($43,580) and the ninetieth ($123,240) 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 $62,598 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 $58,930 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.
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.