Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,872
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$19,378
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,404
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
$93,250
Kept after tax
$73,872
Worth in national money
$83,404
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Dakota pays this job around $93,250 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within North Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 460 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 63 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $93,250 you keep $73,872 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $83,404 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $97,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- For occupational health and safety specialists the North Dakota median is $93,250, ranking 18 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.
- Ranked against every occupation North Dakota publishes a median for, occupational health and safety specialists sits 63 of 460 — 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.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $73,872 after the full tax stack, from $93,250. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $83,404 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $97,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,410 |
| This salary | $93,250 |
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 | $73,872 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,431 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,808 |
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 | $92,455 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,404 |
| 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 occupational health and safety specialists in North Dakota earn under $93,250 and half over. The published range runs $63,660 at the tenth percentile to $130,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $73,872 take-home in North Dakota comes from $93,250. 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 63 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 $83,404, the adjusted value of that $93,250 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 63 of 460 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational health and safety specialists in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,660 to $130,410; 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.
- Retained pay of $73,872, from $93,250, 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 63 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $83,404 — the adjusted value of that $93,250 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 63 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 $97,050, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $63,660 at the tenth percentile, $130,410 at the ninetieth.
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 $83,404 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $73,872.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $97,050. 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 ($63,660 to $130,410) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
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 $83,404 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 $73,872 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.