Materials Engineers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,512
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$25,728
24.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,400
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
$104,240
Kept after tax
$78,512
Worth in national money
$83,400
State rank
25
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 25 of 45 states for materials engineers, with a middle wage of $104,240. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 50 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $104,240 the take-home is $78,512; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $83,400 would nationally. The average comes to $110,700, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 25 of 45 for materials engineers at $104,240. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within North Carolina, materials engineers ranks 50 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.
- Post-tax income for materials engineers in North Carolina, on $104,240, is $78,512 — equivalent to $83,400 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 $110,700 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $153,570 |
| This salary | $104,240 |
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 | $78,512 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,163 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,151 |
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 | $99,051 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,590 |
| 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 $104,240. The published range is $78,160 up to $153,570, 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 $78,512, worked from $104,240. 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 50 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $83,400 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 50.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $78,160 to $153,570. 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 $78,512, on $104,240 for work ranking 50 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 50 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $83,400, worked from $104,240, 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 50 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 $110,700, 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 $78,160, the highest tenth $153,570, 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 $83,400 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $78,512 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $110,700. 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 ($78,160) and the ninetieth ($153,570) 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 $83,400 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 $78,512 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.