Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,517
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,713
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,977
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
$48,230
Kept after tax
$39,517
Worth in national money
$41,977
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $48,230, 35 of 51 states and about 4.19% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 302 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,230 the take-home is $39,517; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,977 would nationally. The average comes to $51,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina's $48,230 median for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance places it 35 of 51 states, about 4.19% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance ranks 302 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.
- Post-tax income for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance in North Carolina, on $48,230, is $39,517 — equivalent to $41,977 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 $51,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,010 |
| This salary | $48,230 |
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 | $39,517 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,933 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$145 |
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 | $46,468 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$176 |
| 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 $48,230. The published range is $35,930 up to $71,010, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $39,517 take-home in North Carolina comes from $48,230. 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 302 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,977 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 302.
- Reported values are medians; for dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,930 to $71,010. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $39,517, from $48,230, 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 302 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,977, worked from $48,230, 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 302 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 $51,240 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 $35,930, the highest tenth $71,010, 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 $41,977 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 $39,517.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $51,240. 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 ($35,930) and the ninetieth ($71,010) 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 $41,977 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 $39,517 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.
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.