Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,432
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,758
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,700
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
$44,190
Kept after tax
$36,432
Worth in national money
$38,700
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays this job around $44,190 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 366 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,190 you keep $36,432 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,700 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $43,790.
- For medical secretaries and administrative assistants the North Carolina median is $44,190, ranking 33 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 366 of 489 in North Carolina places medical secretaries and administrative 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $36,432 after the full tax stack, from $44,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,700 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,790 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,290 |
| This salary | $44,190 |
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 | $36,432 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,687 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$82 |
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 | $42,629 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$99 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 Carolina earn less than $44,190. The published range is $35,880 up to $55,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $36,432, from $44,190, 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 366 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $38,700, the adjusted value of that $44,190 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 366 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,880 to $55,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,432 from $44,190. 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 366 of 489 locally.
- This $38,700 adjusted figure, worked from $44,190, 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 366 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 366 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,880 and the top tenth $55,290, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $38,700.
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, $36,432 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,880 to $55,290) 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 $38,700 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 $36,432 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.