Mechanical Engineers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,177
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$24,543
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,919
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
$100,720
Kept after tax
$76,177
Worth in national money
$80,919
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 29 of 51 states for mechanical engineers, with a middle wage of $100,720. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 59 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $100,720 the take-home is $76,177; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $80,919 would nationally. The average comes to $107,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 29 of 51 for mechanical engineers at $100,720. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 59 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for mechanical engineers in North Carolina, on $100,720, is $76,177 — equivalent to $80,919 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 $107,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $155,550 |
| This salary | $100,720 |
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 | $76,177 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,687 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,084 |
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 | $95,731 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,497 |
| 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 mechanical engineers in North Carolina earn under $100,720 and half over. The published range runs $71,260 at the tenth percentile to $155,550 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $76,177, from $100,720, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 59 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $80,919, the adjusted value of that $100,720 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 59 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical engineers in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $71,260 to $155,550; 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.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $76,177 from $100,720. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 59 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $80,919 — the adjusted value of that $100,720 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 59 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 $107,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $71,260 and the top tenth $155,550 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $80,919.
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 Carolina's own levy, $76,177 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $107,350. 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 ($71,260) and the ninetieth ($155,550) 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 $80,919 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 $76,177 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.