Mechanical Drafters in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,147
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$14,423
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,295
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th 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
$77,570
Kept after tax
$63,147
Worth in national money
$71,295
State rank
7
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for mechanical drafters is strong here. North Dakota's middle earner gets $77,570, putting the state 7 of 47 — about 8.41% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Mechanical drafters ranks 118 among 460 occupations North Dakota publishes pay for.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,570 the take-home is $63,147; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,295 would nationally. The average comes to $77,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For mechanical drafters, North Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $77,570, ranking 7 of 47 and running about 8.41% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 118 of 460 in North Dakota places mechanical drafters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for mechanical drafters in North Dakota, on $77,570, is $63,147 — equivalent to $71,295 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 $77,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $121,580 |
| This salary | $77,570 |
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 | $63,147 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,051 |
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 | $77,210 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,358 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Dakota earn less than $77,570. The published range is $56,380 up to $121,580, 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 Dakota's $63,147, worked from $77,570. 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 118 of 460.
- Two cautions on $71,295, the adjusted value of that $77,570 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 118 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical drafters in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,380 to $121,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Dakota take-home of $63,147, on $77,570 for work ranking 118 of 460 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 118 of 460 in the state.
- This $71,295 adjusted figure, worked from $77,570, 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 118 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 118 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $56,380 and the top tenth $121,580 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $71,295 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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $63,147 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($56,380) and the ninetieth ($121,580) 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 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 $71,295 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 $63,147 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.