Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,258
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$18,632
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,581
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$90,890
Kept after tax
$72,258
Worth in national money
$81,581
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. North Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $90,890, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 42.26% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 69 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $90,890 you keep $72,258, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $81,581 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $82,790, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- North Dakota's median for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers is $90,890, about 42.26% above the national figure and 2 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within North Dakota, telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers ranks 69 of 460 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers on $90,890 is $72,258. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $81,581 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 $82,790 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,150 |
| This salary | $90,890 |
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 Dakota | $72,258 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,771 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,694 |
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 | $90,161 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,247 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Dakota earn less than $90,890. The published range is $58,280 up to $103,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $72,258 take-home in North Dakota comes from $90,890. 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 69 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,581 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 69.
- Reported values are medians; for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $58,280 to $103,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $72,258, from $90,890, assumes a single North Dakota 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 69 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,581, worked from $90,890, 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 Dakota address, on work sitting at 69 of 460 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 $82,790 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 — $58,280 at the tenth percentile, $103,150 at the ninetieth.
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 $81,581.
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 Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $72,258 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Dakota is $82,790. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,280 to $103,150) 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 Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $81,581 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 $72,258 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.