Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$85,131
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$24,579
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$96,115
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
$109,710
Kept after tax
$85,131
Worth in national money
$96,115
State rank
19
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Dakota is 19 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $109,710. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 460 occupations North Dakota reports, this job comes in at 30 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $109,710 the take-home is $85,131; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $96,115 would nationally. The average comes to $115,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 19 of 48 for engineering teachers, postsecondary at $109,710. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Engineering teachers, postsecondary ranks 30 of 460 occupations by median in North Dakota, 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 engineering teachers, postsecondary in North Dakota, on $109,710, is $85,131 — equivalent to $96,115 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 $115,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $109,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,360 |
| This salary | $109,710 |
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 | $85,131 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,011 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,603 |
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 | $108,459 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,503 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $109,710 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $72,170 and the ninetieth is $156,360 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $85,131, worked from $109,710. 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 30 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $96,115, the adjusted value of that $109,710 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 30 of 460 in the state.
- The North Dakota median of $109,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $72,170 to $156,360. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Dakota take-home of $85,131, on $109,710 for work ranking 30 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 30 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $96,115 — the adjusted value of that $109,710 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 30 of 460 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 $115,620 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $72,170 at the bottom tenth to $156,360 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $96,115 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 $85,131 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $115,620. 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 ($72,170) and the ninetieth ($156,360) 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 $96,115 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 $85,131 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.
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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.