Veterinarians in North Dakota

A dog standing on a vet’s examination table while its owner keeps a hand on its back.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$79,980

after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax

Tax takes

$22,200

21.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$90,300

North Dakota costs less than average

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

$102,180

Kept after tax

$79,980

Worth in national money

$90,300

State rank

45

of 49 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • North Dakota is among the lower-paying states for veterinarians. The middle earner takes $102,180, ranking 45 of 49 states — about 21.46% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 460 occupations North Dakota reports, veterinarians comes in at 44 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $102,180 the take-home is $79,980; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $90,300 would nationally. The average comes to $108,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • North Dakota ranks 45 of 49 for veterinarians, with a median of $102,180 — about 21.46% 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.
  • Veterinarians ranks 44 of 460 occupations by median in North Dakota, 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 Dakota, on $102,180, is $79,980 — equivalent to $90,300 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 $108,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

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Pay band: Veterinarians

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$81,420
Half earn under$102,180
Top tenth earn over$153,720
This salary$102,180

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

Compare with
+$733take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in North Dakota$79,980
Take-home in Texas$80,714
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$7,240

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

Moving to
$0$112,180
$112,180in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$101,138
Raise you would need+$10,000
Prices in Texas97 vs 89

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $102,180 as a midpoint for North Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $81,420 and the ninetieth is $153,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • That $79,980 take-home in North Dakota comes from $102,180. 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 44 of 460.
  • One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $90,300, the adjusted value of that $102,180 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 44 of 460 in the state.
  • The North Dakota median of $102,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $81,420 to $153,720. 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 $79,980, from $102,180, 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 44 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 49 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $90,300 — the adjusted value of that $102,180 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 44 of 460 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $108,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $81,420 at the tenth percentile, $153,720 at the ninetieth.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $90,300 in national terms.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Dakota then takes its own share, leaving $79,980.

Why is this job missing from some states?

A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 Dakota is $108,300. 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 ($81,420 to $153,720) 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 $90,300 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 $79,980 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.

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.