Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,684
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,546
13.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,514
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
$34,230
Kept after tax
$29,684
Worth in national money
$33,514
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $34,230. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 7.93% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 460 occupations North Dakota publishes, this job lands at 443. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,230 you keep $29,684, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,514 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,610, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For motor vehicle operators, all other, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $34,230, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.93%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Dakota, this work ranks 443 of 460 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for motor vehicle operators, all other on $34,230 is $29,684. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,514 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 $37,610 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $19,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,850 |
| This salary | $34,230 |
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 | $29,684 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,684 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,967 |
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 | $34,230 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,588 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,230 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $19,630 and the ninetieth is $64,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,684 take-home in North Dakota comes from $34,230. 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 443 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,514 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 443.
- The North Dakota median of $34,230 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $19,630 to $64,850. 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 $29,684, from $34,230, assumes a single North Dakota 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 443 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,514, worked from $34,230, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Dakota address, on work sitting at 443 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 $37,610, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $19,630 and the top tenth $64,850 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $33,514 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 $29,684 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 Dakota is $37,610. 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 ($19,630) and the ninetieth ($64,850) 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 $33,514 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 $29,684 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.