Food Processing Workers, All Other in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,217
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,143
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,160
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
$37,360
Kept after tax
$31,217
Worth in national money
$33,160
State rank
39
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food processing workers, all other is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $37,360. That is 39 of 46 states, and about 5.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, food processing workers, all other lands at 428. 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 $37,360 you keep $31,217 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,160 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $38,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food processing workers, all other, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $37,360, ranking 39 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 5.85%. 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 428 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 $31,217 after the full tax stack, from $37,360. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,160 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $38,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Processing Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,320 |
| This salary | $37,360 |
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 | $31,217 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,199 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$26 |
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 | $36,138 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$31 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,360 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,660 and the ninetieth is $45,320 — 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 Carolina's $31,217, worked from $37,360. 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 428 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,160 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 428.
- The North Carolina median of $37,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,660 to $45,320. 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 Carolina take-home of $31,217, on $37,360 for work ranking 428 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 428 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,160, worked from $37,360, 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 428 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,660 at the tenth percentile, $45,320 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,160 in national terms.
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 $31,217 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,660 to $45,320) 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 $33,160 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 $31,217 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.