Database Architects in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,423
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$36,207
26.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$104,550
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
$134,630
Kept after tax
$98,423
Worth in national money
$104,550
State rank
20
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 20 of 46 states for database architects, with a middle wage of $134,630. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 20 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $134,630 you keep $98,423 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $104,550 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $136,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 20 of 46 for database architects at $134,630. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within North Carolina, database architects ranks 20 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $98,423 after the full tax stack, from $134,630. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $104,550 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $136,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Database Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $81,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $178,380 |
| This salary | $134,630 |
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 | $98,423 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,738 |
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 | $127,515 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,471 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $134,630 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $81,230 and the ninetieth is $178,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $98,423 take-home in North Carolina comes from $134,630. 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 20 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $104,550, the adjusted value of that $134,630 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 20 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $134,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $81,230 to $178,380. 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 $98,423, from $134,630, assumes a single North Carolina 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 20 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $104,550 — the adjusted value of that $134,630 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 20 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $81,230, the highest tenth $178,380, 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 $104,550 in national terms.
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 Carolina's own levy, $98,423 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($81,230) and the ninetieth ($178,380) 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 $104,550 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 $98,423 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.