Detectives and Criminal Investigators in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,376
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$15,914
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,940
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$82,290
Kept after tax
$66,376
Worth in national money
$74,940
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Dakota pays this job around $82,290 at the midpoint, 30 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 90 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,290 the take-home is $66,376; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $74,940 would nationally. The average comes to $88,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For detectives and criminal investigators the North Dakota median is $82,290, ranking 30 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within North Dakota, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 90 of 460 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 detectives and criminal investigators in North Dakota, on $82,290, is $66,376 — equivalent to $74,940 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 $88,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,230 |
| This salary | $82,290 |
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 Dakota | $66,376 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,721 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,279 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $81,799 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,673 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 detectives and criminal investigators in North Dakota earn under $82,290 and half over. The published range runs $58,350 at the tenth percentile to $129,230 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $66,376, worked from $82,290. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 90 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,940 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 90.
- Figures are distribution medians for detectives and criminal investigators in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,350 to $129,230; 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.
- The North Dakota take-home of $66,376, on $82,290 for work ranking 90 of 460 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 90 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,940, worked from $82,290, 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 Dakota address, on work sitting at 90 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $88,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,350, the highest tenth $129,230, 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 Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $74,940 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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $66,376 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 Dakota is $88,310. 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 ($58,350) and the ninetieth ($129,230) 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 Dakota'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 $74,940 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 $66,376 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.