Medical Records Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,579
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,041
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,105
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
$49,620
Kept after tax
$40,579
Worth in national money
$43,105
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for medical records specialists is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $49,620. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 2.97% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 286.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,620 you keep $40,579 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,105 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $55,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- For medical records specialists, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $49,620, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 2.97%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, medical records specialists sits at 286 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $40,579 after the full tax stack, from $49,620. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,105 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Medical Records Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,670 |
| This salary | $49,620 |
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 | $40,579 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,050 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$167 |
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 | $47,789 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$202 |
| 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 records specialists in North Carolina earn under $49,620 and half over. The published range runs $36,840 at the tenth percentile to $79,670 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $40,579, from $49,620, 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 286 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 $43,105, the adjusted value of that $49,620 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 286 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical records specialists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,840 to $79,670; 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 $40,579 from $49,620. 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 286 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $43,105 — the adjusted value of that $49,620 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 286 of 489 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 $55,510, 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 $36,840 at the bottom tenth to $79,670 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $43,105 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 $40,579 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.
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 $55,510. 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 ($36,840) and the ninetieth ($79,670) 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 $43,105 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 $40,579 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.