Hourly pay after taxes in North Carolina
$20 an hour in North Carolina comes to $1,324.45 every two weeks after taxes, for a single person working full time.
Updated for 2026Checked Oct 29, 2026 against IRS and North Carolina Department of Revenue sourcesHow we check
Take-home pay by hourly wage, 2026
| Wage | Two weeks | Month | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7.25 | $531.63 | $1,152 | $13,822 |
| $18.00 | $1,201.89 | $2,604 | $31,249 |
| $20.00 | $1,324.45 | $2,870 | $34,436 |
| $22.00 | $1,446.01 | $3,133 | $37,596 |
| $25.00 | $1,628.85 | $3,529 | $42,350 |
| $30.00 | $1,934.25 | $4,191 | $50,291 |
| $35.00 | $2,215.42 | $4,800 | $57,601 |
| $40.00 | $2,479.82 | $5,373 | $64,475 |
| $50.00 | $3,009.62 | $6,521 | $78,250 |
Every column after the wage is take-home pay. Each row assumes 40 hours a week all year, one paycheck every two weeks, single, no dependents, and no benefits taken out. The monthly and yearly columns are that paycheck times 26. Use the paycheck calculator for your own hours and deductions.
What comes out of an hourly paycheck
At $25 an hour, a two-week paycheck in North Carolina starts at $2,000.00 and ends at $1,628.85.
| Federal income tax | $156.15 |
| Social Security | $124.00 |
| Medicare | $29.00 |
| North Carolina income tax | $62.00 |
North Carolina taxes wages at a flat 3.99 percent for 2026, and employers withhold 4.09 percent after the standard deduction and any child-deduction allowances. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare are taken too, and North Carolina charges no disability or leave premium and no city or county wage tax.
A flat rate and a standard deduction make the North Carolina line one of the easiest to follow.
What changes your number
North Carolina withholds a little more than it taxes. Employers hold out 4.09 percent against a 3.99 percent rate, and the return settles the difference. The state line rises in step with the wage.
Form NC-4 EZ sets the allowances. The number comes from a child-deduction table that depends on filing status, income, and the number of children under 17. A worker with children sees a smaller state line than the single-filer figures here.
Hours matter too. At $20 an hour and 30 hours a week instead of 40, a two-week paycheck in North Carolina comes to $1,019.05.
The minimum wage in North Carolina
The minimum wage in North Carolina is $7.25 an hour, and a full-time worker at $7.25 takes home about $1,152 a month. An employer must pay tipped workers at least $2.13 as long as tips make up the difference.
Sources and checks
Checked on Oct 29, 2026. Source: North Carolina Department of Revenue, Form NC-30, 2026 Income Tax Withholding Tables and Instructions for Employers (Web 11-25), cover, New for 2026: "As a result of Session Law 2023-134, the individual income tax rate for tax year 2026 will be 3.99%"; pages 17 and 18: "The withholding calculations are based on the individual income tax rate of 3.99% plus 0.1%. This results in a withholding tax rate of 4.09%" (ncdor.gov/income-tax-withholding-tables-and-instructions-employers/open, saved as data/sources/north-carolina/NC-30-2026.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026).
Disability: North Carolina runs no state disability or paid-family-leave insurance program paid by an employee payroll deduction: Form NC-30 (2026, saved as data/sources/north-carolina/NC-30-2026.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026) covers North Carolina income tax as the only state withholding on wages, and no North Carolina law or agency page describing such a program was found.
Local taxes: N.C. General Statute 105-247, "Municipalities not to levy income and inheritance tax" (ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_105/GS_105-247.html, saved as data/sources/north-carolina/gs-105-247.html, read Oct 29, 2026): "No city, town, township, or county shall levy any tax on income or inheritance."
Minimum wage: North Carolina Department of Labor, "Minimum Wage in N.C." (labor.nc.gov/workplace-rights/employee-rights-regarding-time-worked-and-wages-earned/minimum-wage-nc, saved as data/sources/north-carolina/ncdol-minimum-wage.html, read Oct 29, 2026): "The minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25 an hour"; "an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as each employee receives enough in tips to make up the difference." No scheduled change.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and its "2026 Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems and Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities," pages 10 to 12. Fetched directly from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf and transcribed Oct 28, 2026.
Every figure above comes from the sources listed here. How we check our numbers.
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