Helpers--Production Workers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,782
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,628
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,823
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
$39,410
Kept after tax
$32,782
Worth in national money
$34,823
State rank
31
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 31 of 49 states for helpers--production workers, with a middle wage of $39,410. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, helpers--production workers ranks 399. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,410 you keep $32,782 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,823 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 31 of 49 for helpers--production workers at $39,410. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, helpers--production workers ranks 399 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $32,782 after the full tax stack, from $39,410. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,823 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,580 |
| This salary | $39,410 |
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 | $32,782 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,846 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7 |
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 | $38,086 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $39,410. The published range is $30,350 up to $50,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $32,782, from $39,410, 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 399 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $34,823, the adjusted value of that $39,410 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 399 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--production workers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,350 to $50,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,782 from $39,410. 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 399 of 489 locally.
- This $34,823 adjusted figure, worked from $39,410, 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 399 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 399 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 $40,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,350 and the top tenth $50,580, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,823 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $32,782.
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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $40,840. 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 ($30,350 to $50,580) 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 $34,823 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 $32,782 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.