Tour and Travel Guides in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,559
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,011
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,275
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
$32,570
Kept after tax
$27,559
Worth in national money
$29,275
State rank
40
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for tour and travel guides. The middle earner takes $32,570, ranking 40 of 50 states — about 14.56% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in North Carolina, this one sits low: 463 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $32,570 the take-home is $27,559; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $29,275 would nationally. The average comes to $34,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 40 of 50 for tour and travel guides, with a median of $32,570 — about 14.56% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Tour and travel guides occupies position 463 of 489 in North Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for tour and travel guides in North Carolina, on $32,570, is $27,559 — equivalent to $29,275 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 $34,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,020 |
| This salary | $32,570 |
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 | $27,559 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,350 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$101 |
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 | $31,586 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$122 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of tour and travel guides in North Carolina earn under $32,570 and half over. The published range runs $22,660 at the tenth percentile to $47,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $27,559 take-home in North Carolina comes from $32,570. 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 463 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,275 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 463.
- Figures are distribution medians for tour and travel guides in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,660 to $47,020; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $27,559, from $32,570, 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 463 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,275, worked from $32,570, 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 463 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 $34,290 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 $22,660 and the top tenth $47,020 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $29,275 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, $27,559 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 $34,290. 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 ($22,660) and the ninetieth ($47,020) 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 $29,275 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 $27,559 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.