Public Safety Telecommunicators in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,234
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,316
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,615
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
$46,550
Kept after tax
$38,234
Worth in national money
$40,615
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $46,550, 40 of 51 states and about 12.24% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 334 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,550 you keep $38,234 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,615 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $47,180, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina's $46,550 median for public safety telecommunicators places it 40 of 51 states, about 12.24% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 334 of 489 in North Carolina places public safety telecommunicators 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 $38,234 after the full tax stack, from $46,550. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,615 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $47,180 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,770 |
| This salary | $46,550 |
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 | $38,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,583 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$119 |
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 | $44,872 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$144 |
| 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 $46,550. The published range is $38,080 up to $59,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $38,234, worked from $46,550. 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 334 of 489.
- Two cautions on $40,615, the adjusted value of that $46,550 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Carolina. 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 334 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for public safety telecommunicators in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,080 to $59,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Carolina take-home of $38,234, on $46,550 for work ranking 334 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 334 of 489 in the state.
- This $40,615 adjusted figure, worked from $46,550, 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 334 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 334 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,080 and the top tenth $59,770, so most people doing this work in North Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,615 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $38,234 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 ($38,080 to $59,770) 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 $40,615 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 $38,234 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.