Surveyors in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,912
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$16,298
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,642
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
$76,210
Kept after tax
$59,912
Worth in national money
$63,642
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for surveyors. The median is $76,210, ranking 25 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Surveyors ranks 123 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,210 you keep $59,912, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,642 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $82,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina occupies the middle band for surveyors: a median of $76,210, ranking 25 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 123 of 489 in North Carolina places surveyors 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for surveyors on $76,210 is $59,912. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,642 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 $82,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Surveyors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,200 |
| This salary | $76,210 |
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 | $59,912 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,444 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$617 |
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 | $72,611 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$853 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,210 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,750 and the ninetieth is $128,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $59,912 take-home in North Carolina comes from $76,210. 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 123 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,642 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 123.
- The North Carolina median of $76,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,750 to $128,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $59,912, from $76,210, assumes a single North Carolina 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 123 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,642, worked from $76,210, 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 Carolina address, on work sitting at 123 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 $82,130 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 $46,750 and the top tenth $128,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $63,642 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, $59,912 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $82,130. 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 ($46,750) and the ninetieth ($128,200) 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 $63,642 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 $59,912 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.