Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,158
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,292
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,534
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
$46,450
Kept after tax
$38,158
Worth in national money
$40,534
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,450, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 337 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,450 the take-home is $38,158; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,534 would nationally. The average comes to $48,270, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors: a median of $46,450, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 337 of 489 in North Carolina places exercise trainers and group fitness instructors 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.
- Post-tax income for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in North Carolina, on $46,450, is $38,158 — equivalent to $40,534 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 $48,270 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,210 |
| This salary | $46,450 |
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 | $38,158 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,503 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$117 |
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 | $44,777 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$142 |
| 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 $46,450. The published range is $24,910 up to $74,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $38,158, from $46,450, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 337 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,534, the adjusted value of that $46,450 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 337 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for exercise trainers and group fitness instructors in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $24,910 to $74,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,158 from $46,450. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 337 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $40,534 — the adjusted value of that $46,450 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 337 of 489 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 $48,270, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $24,910 and the top tenth $74,210 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $40,534.
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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,158 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 Carolina is $48,270. 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 ($24,910) and the ninetieth ($74,210) 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 $40,534 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 $38,158 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.