Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,240
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,460
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,247
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
$38,700
Kept after tax
$32,240
Worth in national money
$34,247
State rank
32
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $38,700, ranking 32 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 Carolina, this one sits low: 410 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,700 you keep $32,240, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,247 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers: a median of $38,700, ranking 32 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.
- Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers occupies position 410 of 489 in North Carolina'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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers on $38,700 is $32,240. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,247 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $39,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,960 |
| This salary | $38,700 |
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 | $32,240 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,275 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4 |
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 | $37,411 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,700 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,320 and the ninetieth is $48,960 — 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 $32,240, worked from $38,700. 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 410 of 489.
- Two cautions on $34,247, the adjusted value of that $38,700 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 410 of 489 locally.
- The North Carolina median of $38,700 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,320 to $48,960. 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 $32,240, on $38,700 for work ranking 410 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 410 of 489 in the state.
- This $34,247 adjusted figure, worked from $38,700, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 410 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 410 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,320 at the tenth percentile, $48,960 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,247 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 Carolina's own levy, $32,240 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,320 to $48,960) 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 $34,247 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 $32,240 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.