Dental Hygienists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,272
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$23,578
24.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,896
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
$97,850
Kept after tax
$74,272
Worth in national money
$78,896
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for dental hygienists. The median is $97,850, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations North Carolina reports, dental hygienists comes in at 69 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $97,850 the take-home is $74,272; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $78,896 would nationally. The average lands at $93,640, below the middle of the range.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for dental hygienists: a median of $97,850, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Dental hygienists ranks 69 of 489 occupations by median in North Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for dental hygienists in North Carolina, on $97,850, is $74,272 — equivalent to $78,896 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 $93,640 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Dental Hygienists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,850 |
| This salary | $97,850 |
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 | $74,272 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,667 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,029 |
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 | $93,023 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,422 |
| 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 dental hygienists in North Carolina earn under $97,850 and half over. The published range runs $77,270 at the tenth percentile to $103,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $74,272 take-home in North Carolina comes from $97,850. 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 69 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 $78,896, the adjusted value of that $97,850 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 69 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dental hygienists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $77,270 to $103,850; 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.
- Retained pay of $74,272, from $97,850, 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 69 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $78,896 — the adjusted value of that $97,850 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 69 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $93,640, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $77,270 at the tenth percentile, $103,850 at the ninetieth.
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 $78,896 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 $74,272.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $93,640. 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 ($77,270 to $103,850) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $78,896 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 $74,272 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.