Food Service Managers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,498
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$15,582
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,140
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
$74,080
Kept after tax
$58,498
Worth in national money
$62,140
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is one of the better-paying states for food service managers. The middle earner takes $74,080, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 6.76% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 135.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $74,080 the take-home is $58,498; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $62,140 would nationally. The average comes to $76,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for food service managers, at $74,080 — about 6.76% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, food service managers sits at 135 of 489 — 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 food service managers in North Carolina, on $74,080, is $58,498 — equivalent to $62,140 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 $76,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,060 |
| This salary | $74,080 |
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 Carolina | $58,498 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,945 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$577 |
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 | $70,602 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$797 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $74,080 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,780 and the ninetieth is $104,060 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $58,498, from $74,080, 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 135 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $62,140, the adjusted value of that $74,080 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 135 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $74,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,780 to $104,060. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,498 from $74,080. 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 135 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $62,140 — the adjusted value of that $74,080 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 135 of 489 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 $76,550 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $51,780 at the bottom tenth to $104,060 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $62,140 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 $58,498 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $76,550. 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 ($51,780 to $104,060) 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 $62,140 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 $58,498 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.