Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,073
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,647
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,319
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
$43,720
Kept after tax
$36,073
Worth in national money
$38,319
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $43,720, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 21.32% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in North Carolina, this one sits low: 372 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $43,720 the take-home is $36,073; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,319 would nationally. The average comes to $46,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 45 of 50 for legal secretaries and administrative assistants, with a median of $43,720 — about 21.32% 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.
- Legal secretaries and administrative assistants occupies position 372 of 489 in North Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in North Carolina, on $43,720, is $36,073 — equivalent to $38,319 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 $46,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,640 |
| This salary | $43,720 |
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 | $36,073 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,309 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$74 |
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 | $42,182 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$90 |
| 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 $43,720. The published range is $31,190 up to $71,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,073 take-home in North Carolina comes from $43,720. 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 372 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 $38,319, the adjusted value of that $43,720 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 372 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,190 to $71,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,073, from $43,720, 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 372 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $38,319 — the adjusted value of that $43,720 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 372 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $46,960, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,190, the highest tenth $71,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $38,319 in national terms.
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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,073 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 50 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 Carolina is $46,960. 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 ($31,190) and the ninetieth ($71,640) 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 $38,319 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 $36,073 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.