Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,478
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,142
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,733
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
$57,620
Kept after tax
$48,478
Worth in national money
$54,733
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $57,620, 37 of 51 states and about 4.08% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 267 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $57,620 you keep $48,478 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,733 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $56,730.
- North Dakota's $57,620 median for security and fire alarm systems installers places it 37 of 51 states, about 4.08% 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.
- Security and fire alarm systems installers ranks 267 of 460 occupations in North Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in North Dakota is $48,478 after the full tax stack, from $57,620. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,733 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $56,730 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,860 |
| This salary | $57,620 |
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 | $48,478 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,478 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,846 |
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 | $57,620 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,860 |
| 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 $57,620. The published range is $47,980 up to $60,860, 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 $48,478, worked from $57,620. 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 267 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,733 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 267.
- Reported values are medians; for security and fire alarm systems installers in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,980 to $60,860. 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 $48,478, on $57,620 for work ranking 267 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 267 of 460 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,733, worked from $57,620, 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 267 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,980 at the bottom tenth to $60,860 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in North Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $54,733 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $48,478 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,980 to $60,860) 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 $54,733 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 $48,478 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.