Protective Service Workers, All Other in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,089
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,651
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,335
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
$43,740
Kept after tax
$36,089
Worth in national money
$38,335
State rank
35
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 $43,740. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 2.82% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, this job lands at 371. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $43,740 the take-home is $36,089; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,335 would nationally. The average comes to $50,360, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For protective service workers, all other, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $43,740, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 2.82%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 371 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for protective service workers, all other in North Carolina, on $43,740, is $36,089 — equivalent to $38,335 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 $50,360 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,170 |
| This salary | $43,740 |
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 | $36,089 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,325 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$75 |
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 | $42,201 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$90 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
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 protective service workers, all other in North Carolina earn under $43,740 and half over. The published range runs $35,800 at the tenth percentile to $72,170 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,089 take-home in North Carolina comes from $43,740. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 371 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,335, the adjusted value of that $43,740 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 371 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for protective service workers, all other in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,800 to $72,170; 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.
- Retained pay of $36,089, from $43,740, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 371 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $38,335 — the adjusted value of that $43,740 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 371 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,360, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,800 at the bottom tenth to $72,170 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $38,335 in national terms.
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 $36,089.
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 $50,360. 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 ($35,800) and the ninetieth ($72,170) 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 $38,335 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 $36,089 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.