Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,369
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$18,051
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,314
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
$81,420
Kept after tax
$63,369
Worth in national money
$67,314
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $81,420, 42 of 49 states and about 19.47% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 99 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $81,420 you keep $63,369, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,314 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $90,790, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina's $81,420 median for social scientists and related workers, all other places it 42 of 49 states, about 19.47% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, social scientists and related workers, all other sits 99 of 489 — 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for social scientists and related workers, all other on $81,420 is $63,369. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,314 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 $90,790 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,840 |
| This salary | $81,420 |
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 | $63,369 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,109 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$717 |
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 | $77,525 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$990 |
| 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 $81,420. The published range is $65,140 up to $124,840, 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 Carolina's $63,369, worked from $81,420. 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 99 of 489.
- Two cautions on $67,314, the adjusted value of that $81,420 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 99 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for social scientists and related workers, all other in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,140 to $124,840. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Carolina take-home of $63,369, on $81,420 for work ranking 99 of 489 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 99 of 489 in the state.
- This $67,314 adjusted figure, worked from $81,420, 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 99 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 99 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 $90,790 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $65,140 and the top tenth $124,840 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $67,314 in national terms.
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 Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $63,369 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $90,790. 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 ($65,140) and the ninetieth ($124,840) 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 $67,314 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 $63,369 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.