Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,410
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,860
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,044
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
$61,270
Kept after tax
$51,410
Worth in national money
$58,044
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,270, ranking 39 of 51 states — about 20% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 215 among 460 occupations North Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,270 you keep $51,410 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $58,044 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $64,900, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota ranks 39 of 51 for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with a median of $61,270 — about 20% 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.
- Position 215 of 460 in North Dakota places executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $51,410 after the full tax stack, from $61,270. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,044 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $64,900 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,170 |
| This salary | $61,270 |
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 | $51,410 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,410 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,139 |
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 | $61,270 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,355 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,270 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,350 and the ninetieth is $86,170 — 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 $51,410, worked from $61,270. 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 215 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 $58,044, the adjusted value of that $61,270 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 215 of 460 in the state.
- The North Dakota median of $61,270 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,350 to $86,170. 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 $51,410, on $61,270 for work ranking 215 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 215 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $58,044 — the adjusted value of that $61,270 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 215 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 $64,900 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,350 at the tenth percentile, $86,170 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $58,044 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and North Dakota's own levy, $51,410 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $64,900. 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 ($46,350 to $86,170) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
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 $58,044 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 $51,410 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.