Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,799
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,871
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,090
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
$44,670
Kept after tax
$36,799
Worth in national money
$39,090
State rank
39
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 $44,670, 39 of 51 states and about 10.1% 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 359.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,670 you keep $36,799, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $39,090 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $42,590, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- North Carolina's $44,670 median for refuse and recyclable material collectors places it 39 of 51 states, about 10.1% 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, refuse and recyclable material collectors sits at 359 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors on $44,670 is $36,799. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $39,090 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 $42,590 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,570 |
| This salary | $44,670 |
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 | $36,799 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,072 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$89 |
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 | $43,085 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$108 |
| 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 $44,670. The published range is $25,140 up to $58,570, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $36,799, from $44,670, 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 359 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $39,090, the adjusted value of that $44,670 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 359 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for refuse and recyclable material collectors in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,140 to $58,570. 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 $36,799 from $44,670. 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 359 of 489 locally.
- This $39,090 adjusted figure, worked from $44,670, 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 359 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 359 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 $42,590, 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 $25,140 at the bottom tenth to $58,570 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $39,090.
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, $36,799 remains.
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.
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 $42,590. 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 ($25,140) and the ninetieth ($58,570) 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 $39,090 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 $36,799 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.