Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,145
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,105
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,325
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the top tenth percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$47,250
Kept after tax
$40,145
Worth in national money
$45,325
State rank
6
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,250, which ranks 6 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 23.37% above the national middle.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 347. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,250 you keep $40,145, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,325 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $43,090, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- North Dakota ranks 6 of 50 states publishing a median for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, at $47,250 — about 23.37% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 347 of 460, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on $47,250 is $40,145. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,325 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 $43,090 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 | $31,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,250 |
| This salary | $47,250 |
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 Dakota | $40,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,145 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,013 |
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 | $47,250 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,853 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in North Dakota earn under $47,250 and half over. The published range runs $31,250 at the tenth percentile to $47,250 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,145 take-home in North Dakota comes from $47,250. 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 347 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,325, the adjusted value of that $47,250 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 347 of 460 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,250 to $47,250; 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 $40,145, from $47,250, assumes a single North Dakota 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 347 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $45,325 — the adjusted value of that $47,250 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 347 of 460 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 $43,090, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,250 at the bottom tenth to $47,250 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $45,325.
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 Dakota's own levy, $40,145 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 Dakota is $43,090. 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 ($31,250 to $47,250) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $45,325 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 $40,145 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.