Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,441
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,689
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,896
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
$48,130
Kept after tax
$39,441
Worth in national money
$41,896
State rank
28
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $48,130, ranking 28 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 306 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 $48,130 the take-home is $39,441; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,896 would nationally. The average comes to $52,740, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for insurance claims and policy processing clerks: a median of $48,130, ranking 28 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Insurance claims and policy processing clerks ranks 306 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 insurance claims and policy processing clerks in North Carolina, on $48,130, is $39,441 — equivalent to $41,896 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 $52,740 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,700 |
| This salary | $48,130 |
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 | $39,441 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,852 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$144 |
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 | $46,373 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$174 |
| 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 insurance claims and policy processing clerks in North Carolina earn under $48,130 and half over. The published range runs $38,560 at the tenth percentile to $72,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,441 take-home in North Carolina comes from $48,130. 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 306 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 $41,896, the adjusted value of that $48,130 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 306 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for insurance claims and policy processing clerks in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,560 to $72,700; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,441, from $48,130, 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 306 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $41,896 — the adjusted value of that $48,130 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 306 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 $52,740, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,560 and the top tenth $72,700, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,896.
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, $39,441 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,740. 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 ($38,560 to $72,700) 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 $41,896 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 $39,441 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.