Mechanical Engineers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,139
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$17,191
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,060
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
$86,330
Kept after tax
$69,139
Worth in national money
$78,060
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $86,330, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 17.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 460 occupations North Dakota reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 77 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $86,330 the take-home is $69,139; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $78,060 would nationally. The average comes to $96,400, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 49 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $86,330 — about 17.08% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 77 of 460 occupations by median in North Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for mechanical engineers in North Dakota, on $86,330, is $69,139 — equivalent to $78,060 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 $96,400 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,060 |
| This salary | $86,330 |
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 | $69,139 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,563 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,474 |
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 | $85,727 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,943 |
| 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 $86,330. The published range is $63,930 up to $136,060, 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 $69,139, worked from $86,330. 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 77 of 460.
- Two cautions on $78,060, the adjusted value of that $86,330 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 77 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,930 to $136,060. 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 $69,139, on $86,330 for work ranking 77 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 77 of 460 in the state.
- This $78,060 adjusted figure, worked from $86,330, 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 77 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 77 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 $96,400, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $63,930 at the bottom tenth to $136,060 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $78,060 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $69,139 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $96,400. 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 ($63,930) and the ninetieth ($136,060) 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 $78,060 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 $69,139 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.
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.