What Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earn in Gaston County, NC
The median pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Gaston County, NC is $29,730 per year, which works out to $14.29 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area, the labor market that Gaston County, NC belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $32,860, which is 10.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,850 people working in this occupation across the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Gaston County, NC has roughly 234,881 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $24,910 a year ($11.98 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $43,680 or more ($21.00 an hour). That is a gap of $18,770 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $28,460 at the 25th percentile and $37,110 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $14.29 an hour or $29,730 a year at the median for Gaston County, NC. Before any deductions, that is $2,478 a month, $1,143 every two weeks and $572 each week. After taxes the same job pays $12.16 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
Job outlook for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 1,463,000 jobs in 2025 to 1,458,000 in 2035, a change of -0.3%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 176,200 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 12.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: some college, no degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $36,780 for this occupation; the Gaston County, NC median of $29,730 is 19.2% below it.
How pay in Gaston County, NC compares
Compared with the North Carolina average
Pay in Gaston County, NC runs $1,678 below the North Carolina average of $31,408, a gap of 5.3%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of North Carolina would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within North Carolina, the highest median we track for this job is $38,050 in Currituck County, NC.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $36,982 across the contiguous United States. At $29,730, Gaston County, NC pays $7,252 less, which is 19.6% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Gaston County, NC
Among the 583 occupations with published wages in Gaston County, NC, Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary ranks number 575 by median pay, ahead of about 1% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $176,840 a year, which is $147,110 more than the median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earning the Gaston County, NC median of $29,730, they add up to $4,435. The result is $25,295 of take-home pay a year ($2,108 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $13,980. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,439, an effective 4.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $1,843 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $431. FICA totals $2,274, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in North Carolina
North Carolina income tax on this salary is $722 a year, or 2.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 50% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $60 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Gaston County, NC
IRS Statistics of Income data for Gaston County, NC show an average adjusted gross income of $72,423 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.3% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.8%, compared with the 4.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Gaston County, NC
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Gaston County, NC: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $25,295 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Gaston County, NC, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,640 a month ($19,680 a year), and at $1,785 for two bedrooms. For Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary, a one-bedroom absorbs 77.8% of take-home pay and 66.2% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 11.6% of gross pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Gaston County, NC. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using North Carolina residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,493 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $645, for $2,138 in total. Gasoline in North Carolina averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,472.
What is left over
The basics cost $26,726 a year in Gaston County, NC, but take-home pay for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $25,295. That is a shortfall of $1,431 a year, or $119 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 118 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $12.16, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for Gaston County, NC
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Gaston County, NC: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Gaston County, NC, set beside the North Carolina and national medians.
Property taxes in Gaston County, NC
Homeowners in Gaston County, NC pay a median of $1,982 a year in real estate taxes, 5% above the North Carolina median of $1,896 and 36% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $266,000, the median tax bill is 0.75% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $29,730, a tax bill of that size would equal 6.7% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Gaston County, NC
Renters in Gaston County, NC pay a median gross rent of $1,153 a month in the Census survey, 6% below the North Carolina median of $1,228. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,640 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $266,000, 8% below the North Carolina median of $288,900. Median household income is $67,478, 7% below the North Carolina median of $72,388, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 29.2% of that income.
Commuting in Gaston County, NC
Workers in Gaston County, NC who travel to a workplace spend an average of 27.0 minutes each way, 8% above the North Carolina average of 25.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.4% of workers in Gaston County, NC work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary afford to live in Gaston County, NC?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $29,730 that ceiling is $743 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,640 is $897 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.54 an hour; the median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $14.29, which is 55% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $12.16 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 31.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,785 a month means $893 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,970 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $7,539, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $29,730 median, lower housing costs than the $1,640 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary pay in Gaston County, NC
How much do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary make per hour in Gaston County, NC?
The median is $14.29 per hour, based on $29,730 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $11.98 at the 10th percentile to $21.00 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary take home after taxes in Gaston County, NC?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $29,730 becomes $25,295 a year. That is $2,108 a month, $973 every two weeks or $486 a week.
How much tax do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary pay in Gaston County, NC?
Total taxes are $4,435 a year, an effective rate of 14.9%: $1,439 federal income tax, $2,274 FICA and $722 North Carolina income tax.
Do Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary earn more in Gaston County, NC than elsewhere in North Carolina?
No. The local median of $29,730 is -5.3% versus the North Carolina average of $31,408, a difference of $1,678 a year.
Can Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary afford a one-bedroom apartment in Gaston County, NC?
A one-bedroom costs $1,640 a month against take-home pay of $2,108, which is 77.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $743 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Gaston County, NC?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $26,726 a year, which is $1,431 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $119.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Gaston County, NC at the 30% guideline?
$31.54 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,680 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary is $14.29.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the North Carolina rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.