Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,589
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$11,831
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,676
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
$61,420
Kept after tax
$49,589
Worth in national money
$52,676
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $61,420. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 10.03% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 194 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,420 the take-home is $49,589; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,676 would nationally. The average comes to $64,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For librarians and media collections specialists, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $61,420, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.03%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 194 of 489 in North Carolina places librarians and media collections specialists 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.
- Post-tax income for librarians and media collections specialists in North Carolina, on $61,420, is $49,589 — equivalent to $52,676 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 $64,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,650 |
| This salary | $61,420 |
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 | $49,589 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,531 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$353 |
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 | $59,003 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$426 |
| 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 $61,420. The published range is $44,600 up to $83,650, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $49,589, worked from $61,420. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 194 of 489.
- Two cautions on $52,676, the adjusted value of that $61,420 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. 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 194 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,600 to $83,650. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Carolina take-home of $49,589, on $61,420 for work ranking 194 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 194 of 489 in the state.
- This $52,676 adjusted figure, worked from $61,420, 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 194 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 194 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 $64,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $44,600 at the tenth percentile, $83,650 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,676 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, $49,589 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 $64,140. 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 ($44,600 to $83,650) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $52,676 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 $49,589 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.