Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,840
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$19,810
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,001
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
$86,650
Kept after tax
$66,840
Worth in national money
$71,001
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $86,650, ranking 33 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Carolina. It ranks 87 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $86,650 you keep $66,840 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,001 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $91,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for occupational health and safety specialists: a median of $86,650, ranking 33 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within North Carolina, occupational health and safety specialists ranks 87 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $66,840 after the full tax stack, from $86,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,001 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $91,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,710 |
| This salary | $86,650 |
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 | $66,840 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,788 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$816 |
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 | $82,459 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,127 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $86,650 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $59,550 and the ninetieth is $129,710 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $66,840, worked from $86,650. 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 87 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,001 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 87.
- The North Carolina median of $86,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $59,550 to $129,710. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Carolina take-home of $66,840, on $86,650 for work ranking 87 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 87 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,001, worked from $86,650, 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 Carolina address, on work sitting at 87 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 $91,730, 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 $59,550 and the top tenth $129,710 — 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 Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $71,001 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 $66,840 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $91,730. 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 ($59,550) and the ninetieth ($129,710) 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 $71,001 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 $66,840 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.