Veterinarians in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,954
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$34,286
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$100,865
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
$129,240
Kept after tax
$94,954
Worth in national money
$100,865
State rank
19
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. North Carolina is 19 of 49 states for veterinarians, with a middle wage of $129,240. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations North Carolina reports, veterinarians comes in at 25 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- North Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $129,240 the take-home is $94,954; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $100,865 would nationally. The average comes to $136,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Carolina ranks 19 of 49 for veterinarians at $129,240. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Veterinarians ranks 25 of 489 occupations by median in North Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for veterinarians in North Carolina, on $129,240, is $94,954 — equivalent to $100,865 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 $136,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Veterinarians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $129,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $209,340 |
| This salary | $129,240 |
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 | $94,954 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $99,602 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,632 |
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 | $122,440 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,320 |
| 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 $129,240. The published range is $77,650 up to $209,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $94,954 take-home in North Carolina comes from $129,240. 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 25 of 489.
- Two cautions on $100,865, the adjusted value of that $129,240 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 25 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinarians in North Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $77,650 to $209,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $94,954, from $129,240, 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 25 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 49 for it.
- This $100,865 adjusted figure, worked from $129,240, 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 25 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 25 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 $136,200, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $77,650 at the bottom tenth to $209,340 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $100,865 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $94,954 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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $136,200. 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 ($77,650) and the ninetieth ($209,340) 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 $100,865 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 $94,954 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.