Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,692
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$17,708
22.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,595
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
$80,400
Kept after tax
$62,692
Worth in national money
$66,595
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 22 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $80,400. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 104 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,400 the take-home is $62,692; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,595 would nationally. The average comes to $85,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 22 of 51 for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary at $80,400. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary sits 104 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina, on $80,400, is $62,692 — equivalent to $66,595 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 $85,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $110,620 |
| This salary | $80,400 |
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 | $62,692 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,391 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$697 |
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 | $76,563 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$963 |
| 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 nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina earn under $80,400 and half over. The published range runs $59,770 at the tenth percentile to $110,620 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 Carolina's $62,692, worked from $80,400. 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 104 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 $66,595, the adjusted value of that $80,400 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 104 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,770 to $110,620; 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 Carolina take-home of $62,692, on $80,400 for work ranking 104 of 489 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 104 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $66,595 — the adjusted value of that $80,400 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 104 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 $85,230, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $59,770 at the tenth percentile, $110,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $66,595 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 $62,692 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 $85,230. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($59,770 to $110,620) 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 $66,595 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 $62,692 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.