Office Clerks, General in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,584
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,186
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,737
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
$41,770
Kept after tax
$34,584
Worth in national money
$36,737
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for office clerks, general is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $41,770. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 7.2% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, office clerks, general lands at 386. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $41,770 the take-home is $34,584; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,737 would nationally. The average comes to $43,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For office clerks, general, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $41,770, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.2%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 386 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for office clerks, general in North Carolina, on $41,770, is $34,584 — equivalent to $36,737 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 $43,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Office Clerks, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,170 |
| This salary | $41,770 |
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 | $34,584 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,742 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$44 |
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 | $40,329 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$53 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 Carolina earn less than $41,770. The published range is $27,660 up to $60,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $34,584 take-home in North Carolina comes from $41,770. 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 386 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,737, the adjusted value of that $41,770 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 386 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for office clerks, general in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,660 to $60,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $34,584, from $41,770, assumes a single North Carolina 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 386 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $36,737 — the adjusted value of that $41,770 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 386 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $43,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $27,660 at the bottom tenth to $60,170 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,737 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 Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $34,584.
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 $43,140. 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 ($27,660) and the ninetieth ($60,170) 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 $36,737 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 $34,584 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.