Tax Preparers in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,441
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,689
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,896
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
$48,130
Kept after tax
$39,441
Worth in national money
$41,896
State rank
26
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 26 of 48 states for tax preparers, with a middle wage of $48,130. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in North Carolina, this sits in the middle: 305 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,130 the take-home is $39,441; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,896 would nationally. The average comes to $57,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 26 of 48 for tax preparers at $48,130. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Tax preparers ranks 305 of 489 occupations in North Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for tax preparers in North Carolina, on $48,130, is $39,441 — equivalent to $41,896 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 $57,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,720 |
| This salary | $48,130 |
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 | $39,441 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,852 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$144 |
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 | $46,373 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$174 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,130 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,480 and the ninetieth is $97,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,441 take-home in North Carolina comes from $48,130. 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 305 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,896 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 305.
- The North Carolina median of $48,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,480 to $97,720. 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 $39,441, from $48,130, 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 305 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,896, worked from $48,130, 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 305 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $57,820, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $35,480, the highest tenth $97,720, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $41,896 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, $39,441 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $57,820. 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 ($35,480) and the ninetieth ($97,720) 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 $41,896 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 $39,441 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.