Manicurists and Pedicurists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,216
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,524
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,035
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
$34,740
Kept after tax
$29,216
Worth in national money
$31,035
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for manicurists and pedicurists is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $34,740. That is 33 of 49 states, and about 2.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, manicurists and pedicurists lands at 448. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,740 you keep $29,216, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,035 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,800, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For manicurists and pedicurists, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $34,740, ranking 33 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 2.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 448 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for manicurists and pedicurists on $34,740 is $29,216. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,035 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 $42,800 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,260 |
| This salary | $34,740 |
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 | $29,216 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,094 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$67 |
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 | $33,648 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$81 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,740 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,150 and the ninetieth is $73,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $29,216, from $34,740, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 448 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,035 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 448.
- The North Carolina median of $34,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,150 to $73,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,216 from $34,740. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 448 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,035, worked from $34,740, 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 448 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 $42,800 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,150 at the bottom tenth to $73,260 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $31,035.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $29,216.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $42,800. 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 ($22,150) and the ninetieth ($73,260) 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 $31,035 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 $29,216 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.