Soil and Plant Scientists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,991
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$16,339
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,726
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
$76,330
Kept after tax
$59,991
Worth in national money
$63,726
State rank
20
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 20 of 46 states for soil and plant scientists, with a middle wage of $76,330. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within North Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, soil and plant scientists ranks 122 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $76,330 you keep $59,991 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,726 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $85,790, since top earners drag the number up.
- North Carolina ranks 20 of 46 for soil and plant scientists at $76,330. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation North Carolina publishes a median for, soil and plant scientists sits 122 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.
- Retained pay in North Carolina is $59,991 after the full tax stack, from $76,330. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,726 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $85,790 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,830 |
| This salary | $76,330 |
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 | $59,991 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,528 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$620 |
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 | $72,724 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$856 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,330 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,430 and the ninetieth is $136,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Carolina's $59,991, worked from $76,330. 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 122 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,726, the adjusted value of that $76,330 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 122 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $76,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,430 to $136,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The North Carolina take-home of $59,991, on $76,330 for work ranking 122 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 122 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $63,726 — the adjusted value of that $76,330 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 122 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 $85,790 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 $47,430 and the top tenth $136,830 — 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 $63,726 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 $59,991 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 46 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 $85,790. 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 ($47,430) and the ninetieth ($136,830) 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 $63,726 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 $59,991 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.