Physical Therapist Assistants in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,158
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$13,382
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,530
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
$67,540
Kept after tax
$54,158
Worth in national money
$57,530
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for physical therapist assistants. The median is $67,540, ranking 18 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 151 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $67,540 the take-home is $54,158; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,530 would nationally. The average comes to $68,790, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for physical therapist assistants: a median of $67,540, ranking 18 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Physical therapist assistants ranks 151 of 489 occupations in North Carolina 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 physical therapist assistants in North Carolina, on $67,540, is $54,158 — equivalent to $57,530 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 $68,790 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,850 |
| This salary | $67,540 |
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 | $54,158 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,344 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$452 |
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 | $64,690 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$625 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $67,540 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $56,100 and the ninetieth is $80,850 — 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 $54,158, worked from $67,540. 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 151 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,530 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 151.
- The North Carolina median of $67,540 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $56,100 to $80,850. 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 $54,158, on $67,540 for work ranking 151 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 151 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,530, worked from $67,540, 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 Carolina address, on work sitting at 151 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $56,100 at the tenth percentile, $80,850 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $57,530 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $54,158.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($56,100 to $80,850) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $57,530 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 $54,158 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.