Project Management Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,243
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$24,577
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,990
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
$100,820
Kept after tax
$76,243
Worth in national money
$80,990
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays project management specialists around $100,820 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, project management specialists ranks 56 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $100,820 the take-home is $76,243; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $80,990 would nationally. The average comes to $107,630, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For project management specialists the North Carolina median is $100,820, ranking 20 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, project management specialists sits 56 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for project management specialists in North Carolina, on $100,820, is $76,243 — equivalent to $80,990 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 $107,630 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Project Management Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $164,050 |
| This salary | $100,820 |
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 | $76,243 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,757 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,086 |
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 | $95,825 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,500 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Carolina earn less than $100,820. The published range is $61,570 up to $164,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $76,243, from $100,820, 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 56 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $80,990 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 56.
- Reported values are medians; for project management specialists in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,570 to $164,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $76,243 from $100,820. 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 56 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $80,990, worked from $100,820, 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 56 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 $107,630, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,570 and the top tenth $164,050 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $80,990 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 $76,243 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $107,630. 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 ($61,570) and the ninetieth ($164,050) 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 $80,990 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 $76,243 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.