Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,278
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,472
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,288
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
$38,750
Kept after tax
$32,278
Worth in national money
$34,288
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $38,750, ranking 15 of 49 states and sitting about 5.67% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in North Carolina, this one sits low: 409 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,750 you keep $32,278, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,288 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's median for farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals is $38,750, about 5.67% above the national figure and 15 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals occupies position 409 of 489 in North Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals on $38,750 is $32,278. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,288 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $40,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,960 |
| This salary | $38,750 |
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 | $32,278 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,316 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4 |
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 | $37,459 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4 |
| 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 $38,750. The published range is $29,050 up to $54,960, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,278 take-home in North Carolina comes from $38,750. 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 409 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,288 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 409.
- Reported values are medians; for farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,050 to $54,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,278, from $38,750, 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 409 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,288, worked from $38,750, 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 409 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $40,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,050 and the top tenth $54,960, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,288 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 Carolina's own levy, $32,278 remains.
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.
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 $40,820. 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 ($29,050 to $54,960) 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 $34,288 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 $32,278 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.