Recreation Workers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,159
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,151
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,308
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
$37,310
Kept after tax
$32,159
Worth in national money
$36,308
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Dakota pays recreation workers a middle wage of $37,310, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 2.05% above the national middle.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, recreation workers ranks 419. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,310 you keep $32,159, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,308 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Dakota's median for recreation workers is $37,310, about 2.05% above the national figure and 14 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, recreation workers ranks 419 of 460, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for recreation workers on $37,310 is $32,159. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,308 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $38,340 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,000 |
| This salary | $37,310 |
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 | $32,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,159 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,214 |
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 | $37,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,887 |
| 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 recreation workers in North Dakota earn under $37,310 and half over. The published range runs $22,250 at the tenth percentile to $54,000 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 $32,159, worked from $37,310. 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 419 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,308 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 419.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,250 to $54,000; 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 $32,159, on $37,310 for work ranking 419 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 419 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,308, worked from $37,310, 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 Dakota address, on work sitting at 419 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $22,250 and the top tenth $54,000 — 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 Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,308 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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,159 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,250) and the ninetieth ($54,000) 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 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 $36,308 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 $32,159 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.