Credit Counselors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,952
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,228
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,315
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
$46,180
Kept after tax
$37,952
Worth in national money
$40,315
State rank
40
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for credit counselors is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $46,180. That is 40 of 46 states, and about 11.58% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 340 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,180 you keep $37,952, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,315 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For credit counselors, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $46,180, ranking 40 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 11.58%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Credit counselors ranks 340 of 489 occupations in North Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for credit counselors on $46,180 is $37,952. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,315 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 $51,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Credit Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,940 |
| This salary | $46,180 |
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 | $37,952 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$113 |
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 | $44,520 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$137 |
| 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 credit counselors in North Carolina earn under $46,180 and half over. The published range runs $31,210 at the tenth percentile to $76,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $37,952, from $46,180, 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 340 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,315 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 340.
- Figures are distribution medians for credit counselors in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,210 to $76,940; 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 $37,952 from $46,180. 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 340 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,315, worked from $46,180, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Carolina address, on work sitting at 340 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 $51,110 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,210, the highest tenth $76,940, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $40,315 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 Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $37,952.
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 $51,110. 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 ($31,210) and the ninetieth ($76,940) 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 $40,315 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 $37,952 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.