Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,676
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$25,304
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,512
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
$102,980
Kept after tax
$77,676
Worth in national money
$82,512
State rank
11
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $102,980, which ranks 11 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 0.42% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 52 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $102,980 the take-home is $77,676; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $82,512 would nationally. The average comes to $112,360, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 11 of 46 states publishing a median for medical scientists, except epidemiologists, at $102,980 — about 0.42% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within North Carolina, medical scientists, except epidemiologists ranks 52 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for medical scientists, except epidemiologists in North Carolina, on $102,980, is $77,676 — equivalent to $82,512 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 $112,360 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,170 |
| This salary | $102,980 |
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 | $77,676 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,276 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,127 |
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 | $97,862 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,557 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $102,980 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,800 and the ninetieth is $171,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $77,676 take-home in North Carolina comes from $102,980. 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 52 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,512, the adjusted value of that $102,980 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 52 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $102,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,800 to $171,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $77,676, from $102,980, 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 52 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $82,512 — the adjusted value of that $102,980 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 52 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 $112,360, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,800, the highest tenth $171,170, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $82,512 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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $77,676 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Carolina is $112,360. 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 ($63,800) and the ninetieth ($171,170) 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 $82,512 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 $77,676 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.