Marketing Managers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$118,278
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$47,202
28.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$125,641
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
$165,480
Kept after tax
$118,278
Worth in national money
$125,641
State rank
13
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Carolina pays marketing managers a middle wage of $165,480, ranking 13 of 48 states and sitting about 0.79% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 11 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $165,480 you keep $118,278, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $125,641 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $173,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's median for marketing managers is $165,480, about 0.79% above the national figure and 13 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within North Carolina, marketing managers ranks 11 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for marketing managers on $165,480 is $118,278. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $125,641 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 $173,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Marketing Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $96,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $165,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $274,100 |
| This salary | $165,480 |
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 | $118,278 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $124,372 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,346 |
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 | $156,564 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,335 |
| 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 marketing managers in North Carolina earn under $165,480 and half over. The published range runs $96,760 at the tenth percentile to $274,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $118,278, worked from $165,480. 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 11 of 489.
- Two cautions on $125,641, the adjusted value of that $165,480 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 11 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for marketing managers in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $96,760 to $274,100; 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.
- The North Carolina take-home of $118,278, on $165,480 for work ranking 11 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 11 of 489 in the state.
- This $125,641 adjusted figure, worked from $165,480, 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 11 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 11 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 $173,660, 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 $96,760, the highest tenth $274,100, 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 $125,641 in national terms.
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 $118,278.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $173,660. 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 ($96,760) and the ninetieth ($274,100) 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 $125,641 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 $118,278 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.