What First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers earn in Mecklenburg County, NC
The median pay for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Mecklenburg County, NC is $74,080 per year, which works out to $35.62 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 Mecklenburg 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 $75,340, which is 1.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 5,910 people working in this occupation across the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Mecklenburg County, NC has roughly 1,154,681 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $48,390 a year ($23.26 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $103,280 or more ($49.65 an hour). That is a gap of $54,890 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $59,800 at the 25th percentile and $84,560 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 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: $35.62 an hour or $74,080 a year at the median for Mecklenburg County, NC. Before any deductions, that is $6,173 a month, $2,849 every two weeks and $1,425 each week. After taxes the same job pays $27.91 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers this way: "Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Enforce safety and sanitation regulations"; "Direct and coordinate the activities of employees engaged in the production or processing of goods, such as inspectors, machine setters, or fabricators"; "Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules, and other records and reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs"; "Confer with other supervisors to coordinate operations and activities within or between departments".
Job outlook for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 679,900 jobs in 2025 to 692,300 in 2035, a change of +1.8%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 61,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Work experience in a related occupation: less than 5 years. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $74,450 for this occupation; the Mecklenburg County, NC median of $74,080 is 0.5% below it.
How pay in Mecklenburg County, NC compares
Compared with the North Carolina average
A worker in this occupation in Mecklenburg County, NC earns $2,759 more than the North Carolina average of $71,321, a premium of 3.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,759 before tax and roughly $2,162 after tax. Within North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, NC already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers earn an employment-weighted average of $73,523 across the contiguous United States, so $74,080 in Mecklenburg County, NC is essentially average. 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 Mecklenburg County, NC
Among the 583 occupations with published wages in Mecklenburg County, NC, First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers ranks number 184 by median pay, ahead of about 69% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $176,840 a year, which is $102,760 more than the median for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers.
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 First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers earning the Mecklenburg County, NC median of $74,080, they add up to $16,020. The result is $58,060 of take-home pay a year ($4,838 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $22 goes to taxes and $78 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 21.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $58,330. 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 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $7,747, an effective 10.5% of gross pay, well below the 22% 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 $4,593 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,074. FICA totals $5,667, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in North Carolina
North Carolina income tax on this salary is $2,607 a year, or 3.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $217 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 Mecklenburg County, NC
IRS Statistics of Income data for Mecklenburg County, NC show an average adjusted gross income of $111,114 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.8% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.9%, compared with the 10.5% 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 Mecklenburg County, NC
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Mecklenburg County, NC: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $58,060 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Mecklenburg 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 First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 33.9% of take-home pay and 26.6% 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 4.6% of gross pay for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Mecklenburg 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
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,726 a year in Mecklenburg County, NC. Subtract that from $58,060 of take-home pay and $31,334 remains, which is $2,611 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 42.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Mecklenburg County, NC
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Mecklenburg 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 Mecklenburg County, NC, set beside the North Carolina and national medians.
Property taxes in Mecklenburg County, NC
Homeowners in Mecklenburg County, NC pay a median of $2,890 a year in real estate taxes, 52% above the North Carolina median of $1,896 and 7% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $406,800, the median tax bill is 0.71% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers median of $74,080, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Mecklenburg County, NC
Renters in Mecklenburg County, NC pay a median gross rent of $1,627 a month in the Census survey, 32% above 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 $406,800, 41% above the North Carolina median of $288,900. Median household income is $87,005, 20% above the North Carolina median of $72,388, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 22.6% of that income.
Commuting in Mecklenburg County, NC
Workers in Mecklenburg County, NC who travel to a workplace spend an average of 25.1 minutes each way, in line with the North Carolina average of 25.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 28.5% of workers in Mecklenburg County, NC work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers afford to live in Mecklenburg 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 $74,080 that ceiling is $1,852 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,640 is $212 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.54 an hour; the median for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers is $35.62, which is 13% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.91 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.6 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 $40,304.
How fast you can save
At $2,611 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers pay in Mecklenburg County, NC
How much do First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers make per hour in Mecklenburg County, NC?
The median is $35.62 per hour, based on $74,080 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $23.26 at the 10th percentile to $49.65 at the 90th percentile.
How much do First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers take home after taxes in Mecklenburg County, NC?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $74,080 becomes $58,060 a year. That is $4,838 a month, $2,233 every two weeks or $1,117 a week.
How much tax do First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers pay in Mecklenburg County, NC?
Total taxes are $16,020 a year, an effective rate of 21.6%: $7,747 federal income tax, $5,667 FICA and $2,607 North Carolina income tax.
Do First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers earn more in Mecklenburg County, NC than elsewhere in North Carolina?
Yes. The local median of $74,080 is +3.9% versus the North Carolina average of $71,321, a difference of $2,759 a year.
Can First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Mecklenburg County, NC?
A one-bedroom costs $1,640 a month against take-home pay of $4,838, which is 33.9% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,852 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Mecklenburg County, NC?
About $2,611 a month ($31,334 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,726 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Mecklenburg 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 First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers is $35.62.
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.