Interpreters and Translators in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,901
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,289
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,178
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
$48,190
Kept after tax
$40,901
Worth in national money
$46,178
State rank
39
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for interpreters and translators is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $48,190. That is 39 of 47 states, and about 19.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Interpreters and translators ranks 334 among 460 occupations North Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,190 you keep $40,901, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $46,178 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For interpreters and translators, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $48,190, ranking 39 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 19.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 334 of 460 in North Dakota places interpreters and translators 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for interpreters and translators on $48,190 is $40,901. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $46,178 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 $52,380 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,030 |
| This salary | $48,190 |
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 | $40,901 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,901 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,088 |
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 | $48,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,944 |
| 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 $48,190. The published range is $39,650 up to $73,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $40,901, from $48,190, 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 334 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $46,178, the adjusted value of that $48,190 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 334 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for interpreters and translators in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,650 to $73,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,901 from $48,190. 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 334 of 460 locally.
- This $46,178 adjusted figure, worked from $48,190, 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 334 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 334 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 $52,380 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 $39,650 and the top tenth $73,030, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $46,178 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,901 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 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 Dakota is $52,380. 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 ($39,650 to $73,030) 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 $46,178 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 $40,901 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.