Library Technicians in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,211
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,309
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,590
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
$46,520
Kept after tax
$38,211
Worth in national money
$40,590
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays library technicians around $46,520 at the midpoint, 19 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Library technicians ranks 335 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,520 you keep $38,211 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,590 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $44,430.
- For library technicians the North Carolina median is $46,520, ranking 19 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.
- Position 335 of 489 in North Carolina places library technicians 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $38,211 after the full tax stack, from $46,520. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,590 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,430 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,490 |
| This salary | $46,520 |
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 | $38,211 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,559 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$118 |
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 | $44,843 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$143 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of library technicians in North Carolina earn under $46,520 and half over. The published range runs $30,670 at the tenth percentile to $58,490 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,211 take-home in North Carolina comes from $46,520. 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 335 of 489.
- Two cautions on $40,590, the adjusted value of that $46,520 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 335 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for library technicians in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,670 to $58,490; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $38,211, from $46,520, 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 335 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- This $40,590 adjusted figure, worked from $46,520, 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 335 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 335 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 $44,430 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 — $30,670 at the tenth percentile, $58,490 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 $40,590 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, $38,211 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 $44,430. 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 ($30,670 to $58,490) 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 $40,590 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 $38,211 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.