Insurance Sales Agents in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,520
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$11,190
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,478
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
$58,710
Kept after tax
$47,520
Worth in national money
$50,478
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for insurance sales agents. The middle earner takes $58,710, ranking 38 of 51 states — about 5.73% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Insurance sales agents ranks 217 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,710 you keep $47,520 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $50,478 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $72,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 38 of 51 for insurance sales agents, with a median of $58,710 — about 5.73% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 217 of 489 in North Carolina places insurance sales agents in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $47,520 after the full tax stack, from $58,710. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,478 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $72,330 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Insurance Sales Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,900 |
| This salary | $58,710 |
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 | $47,520 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,353 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$310 |
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 | $56,428 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$375 |
| 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 sales agents in North Carolina earn under $58,710 and half over. The published range runs $36,000 at the tenth percentile to $124,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $47,520, from $58,710, 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 217 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,478 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 217.
- Figures are distribution medians for insurance sales agents in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,000 to $124,900; 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.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $47,520 from $58,710. 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 217 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,478, worked from $58,710, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Carolina address, on work sitting at 217 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 $72,330 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 $36,000 at the bottom tenth to $124,900 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $50,478 in national terms.
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, $47,520 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $72,330. 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 ($36,000) and the ninetieth ($124,900) 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 $50,478 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 $47,520 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.