Food Preparation Workers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,795
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,465
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,401
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
$30,260
Kept after tax
$25,795
Worth in national money
$27,401
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food preparation workers is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $30,260. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 14.33% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, food preparation workers lands at 477. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,260 you keep $25,795 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,401 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $31,270, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food preparation workers, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $30,260, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.33%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 477 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $25,795 after the full tax stack, from $30,260. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,401 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $31,270 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,760 |
| This salary | $30,260 |
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 | $25,795 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,494 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$137 |
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 | $29,390 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$166 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 food preparation workers in North Carolina earn under $30,260 and half over. The published range runs $21,870 at the tenth percentile to $38,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $25,795, worked from $30,260. 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 477 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,401 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 477.
- Figures are distribution medians for food preparation workers in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,870 to $38,760; 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.
- The North Carolina take-home of $25,795, on $30,260 for work ranking 477 of 489 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 477 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,401, worked from $30,260, 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 477 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 $31,270, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $21,870 and the top tenth $38,760, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $27,401.
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, $25,795 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 Carolina is $31,270. 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 ($21,870 to $38,760) 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 $27,401 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 $25,795 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.