Sheet Metal Workers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,426
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,304
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,005
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
$50,730
Kept after tax
$41,426
Worth in national money
$44,005
State rank
40
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for sheet metal workers is on the low side in North Carolina. The middle earner gets $50,730. That is 40 of 50 states, and about 17.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations North Carolina reports figures for, this is number 270.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,730 you keep $41,426, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,005 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For sheet metal workers, North Carolina sits in the lower band at $50,730, ranking 40 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 17.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In North Carolina's occupational distribution, sheet metal workers sits at 270 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 sheet metal workers on $50,730 is $41,426. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,005 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 $54,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,020 |
| This salary | $50,730 |
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 Carolina | $41,426 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,942 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$185 |
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 | $48,844 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$223 |
| 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 sheet metal workers in North Carolina earn under $50,730 and half over. The published range runs $37,280 at the tenth percentile to $78,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $41,426, from $50,730, 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 270 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $44,005, the adjusted value of that $50,730 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 270 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for sheet metal workers in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,280 to $78,020; 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.
- Take-home for North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,426 from $50,730. 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 270 of 489 locally.
- This $44,005 adjusted figure, worked from $50,730, 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 270 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 270 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 $54,560 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 $37,280 at the bottom tenth to $78,020 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 Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $44,005 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $41,426 remains.
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 50 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 $54,560. 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 ($37,280) and the ninetieth ($78,020) 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 $44,005 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 $41,426 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.