Lawyers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$93,969
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$33,741
26.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,819
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
$127,710
Kept after tax
$93,969
Worth in national money
$99,819
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays lawyers around $127,710 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 27 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $127,710 you keep $93,969, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $99,819 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $160,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For lawyers the North Carolina median is $127,710, ranking 29 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within North Carolina, lawyers ranks 27 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for lawyers on $127,710 is $93,969. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $99,819 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 $160,340 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $127,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $323,720 |
| This salary | $127,710 |
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 | $93,969 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $98,556 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,602 |
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 | $121,022 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,277 |
| 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 $127,710. The published range is $61,610 up to $323,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $93,969 take-home in North Carolina comes from $127,710. 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 27 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 $99,819, the adjusted value of that $127,710 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 27 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for lawyers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,610 to $323,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $93,969, from $127,710, 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 27 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $99,819 — the adjusted value of that $127,710 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 27 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 $160,340, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,610 and the top tenth $323,720 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $99,819.
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, $93,969 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 $160,340. 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 ($61,610) and the ninetieth ($323,720) 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 $99,819 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 $93,969 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.