Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,097
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,893
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,594
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
$48,990
Kept after tax
$40,097
Worth in national money
$42,594
State rank
32
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. North Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $48,990, 32 of 47 states and about 4.56% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 296 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,990 the take-home is $40,097; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,594 would nationally. The average comes to $50,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina's $48,990 median for structural metal fabricators and fitters places it 32 of 47 states, about 4.56% 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.
- Position 296 of 489 in North Carolina places structural metal fabricators and fitters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for structural metal fabricators and fitters in North Carolina, on $48,990, is $40,097 — equivalent to $42,594 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 $50,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,790 |
| This salary | $48,990 |
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 | $40,097 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,543 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$157 |
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 | $47,190 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$190 |
| 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 $48,990. The published range is $35,480 up to $68,790, 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 $40,097, worked from $48,990. 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 296 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 $42,594, the adjusted value of that $48,990 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 296 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for structural metal fabricators and fitters in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,480 to $68,790. 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 $40,097, on $48,990 for work ranking 296 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 296 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $42,594 — the adjusted value of that $48,990 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 296 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 $50,670 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,480 at the tenth percentile, $68,790 at the ninetieth.
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 $42,594 in national terms.
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, $40,097 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 47 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 $50,670. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,480 to $68,790) 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 Carolina rather than a national figure.
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 $42,594 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 $40,097 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.