Occupational Therapists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,014
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$21,926
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,435
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
$92,940
Kept after tax
$71,014
Worth in national money
$75,435
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for occupational therapists. The middle earner takes $92,940, ranking 42 of 51 states — about 7.37% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations North Carolina reports, occupational therapists comes in at 78 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $92,940 you keep $71,014 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $75,435 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $91,360.
- North Carolina ranks 42 of 51 for occupational therapists, with a median of $92,940 — about 7.37% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Occupational therapists ranks 78 of 489 occupations by median in North Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $71,014 after the full tax stack, from $92,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,435 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $91,360 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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 Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,300 |
| This salary | $92,940 |
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 | $71,014 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,213 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$936 |
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 | $88,392 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,293 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $92,940 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,230 and the ninetieth is $118,300 — 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 $71,014, worked from $92,940. 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 78 of 489.
- Two cautions on $75,435, the adjusted value of that $92,940 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 78 of 489 locally.
- The North Carolina median of $92,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,230 to $118,300. 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 $71,014, on $92,940 for work ranking 78 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 78 of 489 in the state.
- This $75,435 adjusted figure, worked from $92,940, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 78 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 78 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $62,230 and the top tenth $118,300, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $75,435 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 $71,014 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($62,230 to $118,300) 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 $75,435 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 $71,014 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.