Health Education Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,039
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$11,041
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,967
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
$58,080
Kept after tax
$47,039
Worth in national money
$49,967
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for health education specialists is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $58,080. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 9.35% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 226 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $58,080 the take-home is $47,039; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $49,967 would nationally. The average comes to $65,570, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For health education specialists, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $58,080, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.35%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Health education specialists ranks 226 of 489 occupations in North Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for health education specialists in North Carolina, on $58,080, is $47,039 — equivalent to $49,967 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 $65,570 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,140 |
| This salary | $58,080 |
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 | $47,039 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,847 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$300 |
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 | $55,829 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$363 |
| 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 health education specialists in North Carolina earn under $58,080 and half over. The published range runs $44,410 at the tenth percentile to $99,140 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 $47,039, worked from $58,080. 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 226 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,967, the adjusted value of that $58,080 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 226 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for health education specialists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,410 to $99,140; 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 $47,039, on $58,080 for work ranking 226 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 226 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $49,967 — the adjusted value of that $58,080 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 226 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $65,570, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $44,410, the highest tenth $99,140, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $49,967.
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, $47,039 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 $65,570. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($44,410) and the ninetieth ($99,140) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $49,967 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 $47,039 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.