Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,261
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,579
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,746
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
$59,840
Kept after tax
$50,261
Worth in national money
$56,746
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $59,840, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.34% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 460 occupations North Dakota reports figures for, this is number 239.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,840 you keep $50,261 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,746 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,290, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Dakota ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, at $59,840 — about 2.34% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In North Dakota's occupational distribution, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sits at 239 of 460 — 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.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $50,261 after the full tax stack, from $59,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,746 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,290 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $59,840 |
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 | $50,261 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,261 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,024 |
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 | $59,840 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,076 |
| 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 postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in North Dakota earn under $59,840 and half over. The published range runs $42,600 at the tenth percentile to $75,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $50,261, worked from $59,840. 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 239 of 460.
- Two cautions on $56,746, the adjusted value of that $59,840 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 239 of 460 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,600 to $75,280; 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.
- The North Dakota take-home of $50,261, on $59,840 for work ranking 239 of 460 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 239 of 460 in the state.
- This $56,746 adjusted figure, worked from $59,840, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 239 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 239 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $75,280 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 $56,746.
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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $50,261 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 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 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 $56,746 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 $50,261 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.
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.