Recreational Therapists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,655
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,375
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,249
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
$51,030
Kept after tax
$41,655
Worth in national money
$44,249
State rank
39
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays recreational therapists a middle wage of $51,030, 39 of 48 states and about 17.64% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 268.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,030 you keep $41,655, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,249 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's $51,030 median for recreational therapists places it 39 of 48 states, about 17.64% 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.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, recreational therapists sits at 268 of 489 — 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for recreational therapists on $51,030 is $41,655. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,249 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 $55,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,340 |
| This salary | $51,030 |
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 | $41,655 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,183 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$189 |
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 | $49,129 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$229 |
| 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 recreational therapists in North Carolina earn under $51,030 and half over. The published range runs $41,490 at the tenth percentile to $78,340 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 Carolina's $41,655, worked from $51,030. 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 268 of 489.
- Two cautions on $44,249, the adjusted value of that $51,030 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 268 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreational therapists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,490 to $78,340; 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 Carolina take-home of $41,655, on $51,030 for work ranking 268 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 268 of 489 in the state.
- This $44,249 adjusted figure, worked from $51,030, 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 268 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 268 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $55,950 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $41,490 at the bottom tenth to $78,340 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 $44,249 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 $41,655 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $55,950. 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 ($41,490) and the ninetieth ($78,340) 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 $44,249 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 $41,655 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.