Security Guards in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,766
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,544
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,122
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
$39,310
Kept after tax
$33,766
Worth in national money
$38,122
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Dakota is 20 of 51 states for security guards, with a middle wage of $39,310. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, security guards ranks 398. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,310 the take-home is $33,766; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,122 would nationally. The average comes to $43,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 20 of 51 for security guards at $39,310. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation North Dakota reports, security guards ranks 398 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.
- Post-tax income for security guards in North Dakota, on $39,310, is $33,766 — equivalent to $38,122 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 $43,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,390 |
| This salary | $39,310 |
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 | $33,766 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,766 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,375 |
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 | $39,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,082 |
| 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 security guards in North Dakota earn under $39,310 and half over. The published range runs $31,150 at the tenth percentile to $64,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,766 take-home in North Dakota comes from $39,310. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 398 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,122 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 398.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,150 to $64,390; 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.
- Retained pay of $33,766, from $39,310, assumes a single North Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 398 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,122, worked from $39,310, 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 398 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $43,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,150 at the bottom tenth to $64,390 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $38,122 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 $33,766 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.
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 $43,150. 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 ($31,150) and the ninetieth ($64,390) 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 $38,122 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 $33,766 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.