Physical Therapist Aides in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,456
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,224
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,643
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
$37,680
Kept after tax
$32,456
Worth in national money
$36,643
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Dakota pays physical therapist aides a middle wage of $37,680, ranking 10 of 50 states and sitting about 6.92% above the national middle.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, physical therapist aides ranks 415. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,680 you keep $32,456 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,643 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,280, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota's median for physical therapist aides is $37,680, about 6.92% above the national figure and 10 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, physical therapist aides ranks 415 of 460, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $32,456 after the full tax stack, from $37,680. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,643 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,280 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,430 |
| This salary | $37,680 |
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 | $32,456 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,456 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,244 |
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 | $37,680 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,923 |
| 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 physical therapist aides in North Dakota earn under $37,680 and half over. The published range runs $29,900 at the tenth percentile to $56,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $32,456, from $37,680, 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 415 of 460 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,643 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 415.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapist aides in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,900 to $56,430; 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.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,456 from $37,680. 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 415 of 460 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,643, worked from $37,680, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Dakota address, on work sitting at 415 of 460 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 $40,280 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,900 at the bottom tenth to $56,430 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,643.
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 $32,456.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $40,280. 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 ($29,900 to $56,430) 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 $36,643 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 $32,456 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.