Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,143
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,287
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,517
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
$46,430
Kept after tax
$38,143
Worth in national money
$40,517
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $46,430. That is 41 of 51 states, and about 4.41% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 338.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,430 you keep $38,143 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,517 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,600, since top earners drag the number up.
- For inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $46,430, ranking 41 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 4.41%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers sits at 338 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $38,143 after the full tax stack, from $46,430. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,517 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,600 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,770 |
| This salary | $46,430 |
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 | $38,143 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,487 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$117 |
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 | $44,758 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$142 |
| 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 $46,430. The published range is $31,590 up to $71,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $38,143 take-home in North Carolina comes from $46,430. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 338 of 489.
- Two cautions on $40,517, the adjusted value of that $46,430 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 338 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,590 to $71,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $38,143, from $46,430, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 338 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- This $40,517 adjusted figure, worked from $46,430, 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 338 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 338 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 $48,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,590 at the bottom tenth to $71,770 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,517.
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, $38,143 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 $48,600. 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 ($31,590) and the ninetieth ($71,770) 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 $40,517 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 $38,143 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.