Occupational Therapy Assistants in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,169
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,801
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,772
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
$60,970
Kept after tax
$51,169
Worth in national money
$57,772
State rank
46
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $60,970. That is 46 of 50 states, and about 15.67% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 220 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,970 the take-home is $51,169; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,772 would nationally. The average lands at $58,980, below the middle of the range.
- For occupational therapy assistants, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $60,970, ranking 46 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 15.67%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Occupational therapy assistants ranks 220 of 460 occupations in North Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for occupational therapy assistants in North Dakota, on $60,970, is $51,169 — equivalent to $57,772 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 $58,980 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,540 |
| This salary | $60,970 |
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 | $51,169 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,169 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,115 |
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 | $60,970 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,279 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Dakota earn less than $60,970. The published range is $48,760 up to $65,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $51,169, from $60,970, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 220 of 460 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,772, the adjusted value of that $60,970 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 220 of 460 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational therapy assistants in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,760 to $65,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,169 from $60,970. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 220 of 460 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $57,772 — the adjusted value of that $60,970 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 220 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 $58,980, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,760 and the top tenth $65,540, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $57,772.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and North Dakota's own levy, $51,169 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $58,980. 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 ($48,760 to $65,540) 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 $57,772 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 $51,169 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.