Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,599
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,571
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,629
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
$39,170
Kept after tax
$32,599
Worth in national money
$34,629
State rank
22
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays this job around $39,170 at the midpoint, 22 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in North Carolina, this one sits low: 403 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,170 you keep $32,599, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,629 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $37,630, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers the North Carolina median is $39,170, ranking 22 of 50 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.
- Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers occupies position 403 of 489 in North Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on $39,170 is $32,599. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,629 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 $37,630 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,640 |
| This salary | $39,170 |
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 | $32,599 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,653 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3 |
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 | $37,858 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,170 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,710 and the ninetieth is $41,640 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $32,599, worked from $39,170. 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 403 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,629 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 403.
- The North Carolina median of $39,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,710 to $41,640. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Carolina take-home of $32,599, on $39,170 for work ranking 403 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 403 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,629, worked from $39,170, 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 403 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 $37,630 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 — $29,710 at the tenth percentile, $41,640 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 $34,629 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 $32,599.
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.
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 $37,630. 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 ($29,710 to $41,640) 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 $34,629 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 $32,599 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.