Insurance Underwriters in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,794
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$13,336
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,638
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$74,130
Kept after tax
$60,794
Worth in national money
$68,638
State rank
40
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is among the lower-paying states for insurance underwriters. The middle earner takes $74,130, ranking 40 of 49 states — about 8.9% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 144.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $74,130 you keep $60,794, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $68,638 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $78,330, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Dakota ranks 40 of 49 for insurance underwriters, with a median of $74,130 — about 8.9% 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.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, insurance underwriters sits at 144 of 460 — 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for insurance underwriters on $74,130 is $60,794. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $68,638 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 $78,330 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Insurance Underwriters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,490 |
| This salary | $74,130 |
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 Dakota | $60,794 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,980 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,885 |
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 | $73,865 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,129 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Dakota earn less than $74,130. The published range is $54,790 up to $99,490, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $60,794 take-home in North Dakota comes from $74,130. 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 144 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $68,638, the adjusted value of that $74,130 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 144 of 460 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for insurance underwriters in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $54,790 to $99,490. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $60,794, from $74,130, assumes a single North Dakota 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 144 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $68,638 — the adjusted value of that $74,130 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 144 of 460 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 $78,330 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 $54,790 and the top tenth $99,490, so most people doing this work in North Dakota 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 $68,638.
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 Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $60,794.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Dakota is $78,330. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($54,790 to $99,490) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $68,638 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 $60,794 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.