Motorcycle Mechanics in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,492
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,678
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,974
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
$50,170
Kept after tax
$42,492
Worth in national money
$47,974
State rank
14
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for motorcycle mechanics is strong here. North Dakota's middle earner gets $50,170, putting the state 14 of 45 — about 3.27% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 308 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,170 you keep $42,492, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,974 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,230, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For motorcycle mechanics, North Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,170, ranking 14 of 45 and running about 3.27% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Motorcycle mechanics ranks 308 of 460 occupations in North Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for motorcycle mechanics on $50,170 is $42,492. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,974 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 $55,230 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Motorcycle Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,410 |
| This salary | $50,170 |
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 | $42,492 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,247 |
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 | $50,170 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,137 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 motorcycle mechanics in North Dakota earn under $50,170 and half over. The published range runs $38,260 at the tenth percentile to $76,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $42,492, worked from $50,170. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 308 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,974, the adjusted value of that $50,170 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 308 of 460 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for motorcycle mechanics in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,260 to $76,410; 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.
- The North Dakota take-home of $42,492, on $50,170 for work ranking 308 of 460 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 308 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $47,974 — the adjusted value of that $50,170 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 308 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $55,230, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $38,260, the highest tenth $76,410, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $47,974 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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $42,492 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 Dakota is $55,230. 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 ($38,260) and the ninetieth ($76,410) 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 $47,974 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 $42,492 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.
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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.