Registered Nurses in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,309
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$15,421
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,735
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
$80,730
Kept after tax
$65,309
Worth in national money
$73,735
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for registered nurses is on the low side in North Dakota. The middle earner gets $80,730. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 17.24% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within North Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 460 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 101 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,730 the take-home is $65,309; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $73,735 would nationally. The average comes to $83,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For registered nurses, North Dakota sits in the lower band at $80,730, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 17.24%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation North Dakota publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 101 of 460 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for registered nurses in North Dakota, on $80,730, is $65,309 — equivalent to $73,735 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 $83,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,480 |
| This salary | $80,730 |
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 | $65,309 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,624 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,204 |
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 | $80,282 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,569 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Dakota earn less than $80,730. The published range is $65,520 up to $103,480, 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 Dakota's $65,309, worked from $80,730. 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 101 of 460.
- Two cautions on $73,735, the adjusted value of that $80,730 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 101 of 460 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for registered nurses in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,520 to $103,480. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Dakota take-home of $65,309, on $80,730 for work ranking 101 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 101 of 460 in the state.
- This $73,735 adjusted figure, worked from $80,730, 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 101 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 101 of 460 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 $83,600, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $65,520 and the top tenth $103,480, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $73,735.
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 Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $65,309.
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 Dakota is $83,600. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($65,520 to $103,480) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
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 $73,735 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 $65,309 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.