Food Batchmakers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,995
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,845
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,510
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
$40,840
Kept after tax
$34,995
Worth in national money
$39,510
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for food batchmakers. The median is $40,840, ranking 21 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in North Dakota, this one sits low: 387 of 460 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $40,840 you keep $34,995 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,510 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,270, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for food batchmakers: a median of $40,840, ranking 21 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.
- Food batchmakers occupies position 387 of 460 in North Dakota'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.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $34,995 after the full tax stack, from $40,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,510 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,270 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,840 |
| This salary | $40,840 |
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 | $34,995 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,995 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,498 |
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 | $40,840 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,230 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,840 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,180 and the ninetieth is $51,840 — 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 $34,995, worked from $40,840. 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 387 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 $39,510, the adjusted value of that $40,840 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 387 of 460 in the state.
- The North Dakota median of $40,840 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,180 to $51,840. 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 $34,995, on $40,840 for work ranking 387 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 387 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $39,510 — the adjusted value of that $40,840 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 387 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 $43,270 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,180 and the top tenth $51,840, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,510 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $34,995 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $43,270. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,180 to $51,840) 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 $39,510 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 $34,995 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.