Medical Assistants in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,158
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,982
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,471
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
$45,140
Kept after tax
$37,158
Worth in national money
$39,471
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays medical assistants around $45,140 at the midpoint, 27 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Medical assistants ranks 351 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,140 you keep $37,158, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,471 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $44,090, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For medical assistants the North Carolina median is $45,140, ranking 27 of 51 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.
- Position 351 of 489 in North Carolina places medical assistants 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for medical assistants on $45,140 is $37,158. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,471 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 $44,090 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Medical Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,850 |
| This salary | $45,140 |
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 | $37,158 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,450 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$97 |
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 | $43,532 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$117 |
| 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 medical assistants in North Carolina earn under $45,140 and half over. The published range runs $36,010 at the tenth percentile to $50,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,158 take-home in North Carolina comes from $45,140. 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 351 of 489.
- Two cautions on $39,471, the adjusted value of that $45,140 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. 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 351 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical assistants in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,010 to $50,850; 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 $37,158, from $45,140, assumes a single North Carolina 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 351 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- This $39,471 adjusted figure, worked from $45,140, 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 351 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 351 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,010 and the top tenth $50,850, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,471 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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,158 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,010 to $50,850) 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 $39,471 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 $37,158 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.