Library Assistants, Clerical in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,071
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,479
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,881
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
$34,550
Kept after tax
$29,071
Worth in national money
$30,881
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 30 of 50 states for library assistants, clerical, with a middle wage of $34,550. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, library assistants, clerical ranks 449. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,550 you keep $29,071 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,881 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $34,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 30 of 50 for library assistants, clerical at $34,550. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation North Carolina reports, library assistants, clerical ranks 449 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $29,071 after the full tax stack, from $34,550. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,881 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $34,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Library Assistants, Clerical
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,690 |
| This salary | $34,550 |
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 | $29,071 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,941 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$70 |
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 | $33,467 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$84 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,550 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,040 and the ninetieth is $45,690 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,071 take-home in North Carolina comes from $34,550. 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 449 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,881 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 449.
- The North Carolina median of $34,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,040 to $45,690. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,071, from $34,550, 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 449 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,881, worked from $34,550, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Carolina address, on work sitting at 449 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $25,040 at the tenth percentile, $45,690 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $30,881 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $29,071 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($25,040 to $45,690) 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 $30,881 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 $29,071 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.