Training and Development Specialists in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,514
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$12,736
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,783
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
$65,250
Kept after tax
$52,514
Worth in national money
$55,783
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. North Carolina pays this job around $65,250 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 159 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $65,250 you keep $52,514, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,783 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $71,770, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For training and development specialists the North Carolina median is $65,250, ranking 28 of 51 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.
- Position 159 of 489 in North Carolina places training and development specialists 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 training and development specialists on $65,250 is $52,514. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,783 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 $71,770 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Training and Development Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,110 |
| This salary | $65,250 |
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 | $52,514 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,608 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$413 |
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 | $62,643 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$499 |
| 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 training and development specialists in North Carolina earn under $65,250 and half over. The published range runs $33,170 at the tenth percentile to $115,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $52,514 take-home in North Carolina comes from $65,250. 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 159 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,783 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 159.
- Figures are distribution medians for training and development specialists in North Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,170 to $115,110; 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 $52,514, from $65,250, 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 159 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,783, worked from $65,250, 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 159 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $71,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $33,170 and the top tenth $115,110 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $55,783.
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, $52,514 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $71,770. 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 ($33,170) and the ninetieth ($115,110) 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 $55,783 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 $52,514 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.
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.