Firefighters in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,437
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,643
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,428
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
$55,080
Kept after tax
$46,437
Worth in national money
$52,428
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for firefighters. The median is $55,080, ranking 27 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 278.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $55,080 the take-home is $46,437; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,428 would nationally. The average comes to $57,980, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for firefighters: a median of $55,080, ranking 27 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, firefighters sits at 278 of 460 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for firefighters in North Dakota, on $55,080, is $46,437 — equivalent to $52,428 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 $57,980 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,530 |
| This salary | $55,080 |
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 Dakota | $46,437 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,437 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,642 |
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 | $55,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,613 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of firefighters in North Dakota earn under $55,080 and half over. The published range runs $39,700 at the tenth percentile to $77,530 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $46,437, from $55,080, 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 278 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $52,428, the adjusted value of that $55,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 278 of 460 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for firefighters in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,700 to $77,530; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $46,437 from $55,080. 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 278 of 460 locally.
- This $52,428 adjusted figure, worked from $55,080, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 278 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 278 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 $57,980 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 — $39,700 at the tenth percentile, $77,530 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,428 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $46,437.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $57,980. 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 ($39,700 to $77,530) 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 $52,428 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 $46,437 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.