Occupational Therapists in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,998
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$16,202
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,642
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
$83,200
Kept after tax
$66,998
Worth in national money
$75,642
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for occupational therapists is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $83,200. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 17.07% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 84 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $83,200 you keep $66,998 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $75,642 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $87,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- For occupational therapists, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $83,200, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 17.07%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Dakota, occupational therapists ranks 84 of 460 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 Dakota is $66,998 after the full tax stack, from $83,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,642 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $87,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,300 |
| This salary | $83,200 |
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 | $66,998 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,361 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,323 |
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 | $82,684 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,734 |
| 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 therapists in North Dakota earn under $83,200 and half over. The published range runs $66,890 at the tenth percentile to $106,300 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $66,998 take-home in North Dakota comes from $83,200. 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 84 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 $75,642, the adjusted value of that $83,200 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 84 of 460 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational therapists in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $66,890 to $106,300; 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 $66,998, from $83,200, 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 84 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $75,642 — the adjusted value of that $83,200 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 84 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 $87,670, 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 — $66,890 at the tenth percentile, $106,300 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 $75,642 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 $66,998.
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 Dakota is $87,670. 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 ($66,890 to $106,300) 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 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 $75,642 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 $66,998 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.