Data Scientists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$88,367
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$30,723
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$93,868
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
$119,090
Kept after tax
$88,367
Worth in national money
$93,868
State rank
14
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for data scientists is strong here. North Carolina's middle earner gets $119,090, putting the state 14 of 49 — about 0.95% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 34 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $119,090 the take-home is $88,367; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $93,868 would nationally. The average comes to $121,270, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For data scientists, North Carolina sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $119,090, ranking 14 of 49 and running about 0.95% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within North Carolina, data scientists ranks 34 of 489 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.
- Post-tax income for data scientists in North Carolina, on $119,090, is $88,367 — equivalent to $93,868 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 $121,270 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $119,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $172,830 |
| This salary | $119,090 |
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 | $88,367 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,610 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,434 |
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 | $113,059 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,980 |
| 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 $119,090. The published range is $65,970 up to $172,830, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $88,367, from $119,090, 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 34 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $93,868, the adjusted value of that $119,090 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. 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 34 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for data scientists in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,970 to $172,830. 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 $88,367 from $119,090. 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 34 of 489 locally.
- This $93,868 adjusted figure, worked from $119,090, 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 34 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 34 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $65,970, the highest tenth $172,830, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $93,868 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $88,367.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($65,970) and the ninetieth ($172,830) 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 $93,868 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 $88,367 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.