Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,103
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,417
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,101
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
$38,520
Kept after tax
$32,103
Worth in national money
$34,101
State rank
19
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays this job around $38,520 at the midpoint, 19 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 489 occupations North Carolina publishes, this job lands at 412. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,520 you keep $32,103, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,101 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,580, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For switchboard operators, including answering service the North Carolina median is $38,520, ranking 19 of 46 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within North Carolina, this work ranks 412 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for switchboard operators, including answering service on $38,520 is $32,103. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,101 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 $38,580 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,340 |
| This salary | $38,520 |
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 | $32,103 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,131 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $37,240 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9 |
| 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 $38,520. The published range is $30,510 up to $46,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,103 take-home in North Carolina comes from $38,520. 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 412 of 489.
- Two cautions on $34,101, the adjusted value of that $38,520 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 412 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,510 to $46,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,103, from $38,520, 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 412 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 46 for it.
- This $34,101 adjusted figure, worked from $38,520, 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 412 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 412 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,510 at the bottom tenth to $46,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $34,101.
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 $32,103 of this wage survives to your account.
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 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,510 to $46,340) 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 $34,101 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 $32,103 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.