Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,954
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$10,396
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,753
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
$55,350
Kept after tax
$44,954
Worth in national money
$47,753
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $55,350. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 5.34% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 248 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $55,350 you keep $44,954 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $47,753 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $56,620, since top earners drag the number up.
- For postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $55,350, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 5.34%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 248 of 489 in North Carolina places postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $44,954 after the full tax stack, from $55,350. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $47,753 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $56,620 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $55,350 |
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 | $44,954 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,654 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$257 |
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 | $53,235 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$311 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $55,350 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,600 and the ninetieth is $75,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $44,954, from $55,350, 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 248 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,753, the adjusted value of that $55,350 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 248 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $55,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,600 to $75,280. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $44,954 from $55,350. 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 248 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $47,753 — the adjusted value of that $55,350 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 248 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,280 at the ninetieth.
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 $47,753 in national terms.
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 Carolina's own levy, $44,954 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,600 to $75,280) 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 $47,753 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 $44,954 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.