Opticians, Dispensing in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,014
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,176
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,567
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
$50,190
Kept after tax
$41,014
Worth in national money
$43,567
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for opticians, dispensing is strong here. North Carolina's middle earner gets $50,190, putting the state 14 of 51 — about 6.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 278.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,190 you keep $41,014, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,567 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,810, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For opticians, dispensing, North Carolina sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,190, ranking 14 of 51 and running about 6.2% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, opticians, dispensing sits at 278 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for opticians, dispensing on $50,190 is $41,014. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,567 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $55,810 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,340 |
| This salary | $50,190 |
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 | $41,014 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$176 |
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 | $48,331 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$213 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,190 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,500 and the ninetieth is $81,340 — 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 $41,014, worked from $50,190. 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 278 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 $43,567, the adjusted value of that $50,190 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 278 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $50,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,500 to $81,340. 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 $41,014, on $50,190 for work ranking 278 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 278 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $43,567 — the adjusted value of that $50,190 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 278 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $55,810, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,500 at the bottom tenth to $81,340 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 $43,567 in national terms.
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 $41,014 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.
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 $55,810. 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 ($36,500) and the ninetieth ($81,340) 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 $43,567 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 $41,014 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.