Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,112
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,968
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,422
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
$45,080
Kept after tax
$37,112
Worth in national money
$39,422
State rank
44
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for drywall and ceiling tile installers. The middle earner takes $45,080, ranking 44 of 49 states — about 23.5% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 353 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 $45,080 the take-home is $37,112; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $39,422 would nationally. The average lands at $45,060, below the middle of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 44 of 49 for drywall and ceiling tile installers, with a median of $45,080 — about 23.5% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Drywall and ceiling tile installers ranks 353 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 drywall and ceiling tile installers in North Carolina, on $45,080, is $37,112 — equivalent to $39,422 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 $45,060 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,180 |
| This salary | $45,080 |
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 | $37,112 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,402 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$96 |
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 | $43,475 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$116 |
| 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 $45,080. The published range is $31,420 up to $60,180, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $37,112, worked from $45,080. 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 353 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 $39,422, the adjusted value of that $45,080 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 353 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for drywall and ceiling tile installers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,420 to $60,180. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Carolina take-home of $37,112, on $45,080 for work ranking 353 of 489 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 353 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $39,422 — the adjusted value of that $45,080 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 353 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,420 at the bottom tenth to $60,180 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $39,422.
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 $37,112.
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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,420 to $60,180) 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 $39,422 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 $37,112 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.