Industrial Production Manager Salary in North Carolina: Pay by Experience, City & Take-Home

An industrial production manager in North Carolina earns a median of $125,940 a year, or about $60.55 an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). Most of the field lands between $77,130 at the 10th percentile and $206,310 at the 90th. That puts the typical North Carolina manager almost exactly level with the national median of $126,060, and the gap is just $120.

How North Carolina pay compares to the national average

North Carolina sits right on top of the national line for this role. The state median of $125,940 trails the U.S. median of $126,060 by only $120, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). For practical purposes, a production manager moving into North Carolina from the typical American plant should expect the same headline number, with a meaningful catch: the state’s cost of living and flat income tax tend to leave more of that paycheck in hand than higher-cost states do.

The averages tell a slightly different story than the medians. North Carolina’s mean wage for the role is $135,050, which runs above the $125,940 median. When the mean sits well above the median, it signals a long upper tail, a cluster of high earners at large plants and corporate manufacturing campuses pulling the average up while the typical manager earns less. You see that tail clearly in the percentile spread below.

With 9,640 industrial production managers employed across North Carolina, this is a deep market by state standards. Furniture, textiles, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and food processing all run heavy manufacturing footprints here, so the demand for people who can run a production floor is steady rather than seasonal.

One more way to read the comparison: because North Carolina’s median is within $120 of the national figure, the choice between this state and the typical U.S. plant comes down almost entirely to cost of living and tax treatment, not base pay. A manager earning the median here is not taking a discount to work in North Carolina. The percentile range, from $77,130 at the 10th to $206,310 at the 90th, mirrors the national career ladder closely, so the path from a first supervisory role to a senior plant or multi-site job looks the same dollar-for-dollar as it does elsewhere. The difference shows up in your bank account after tax and after rent, which is where the take-home section below earns its keep.

Industrial production manager pay by experience in North Carolina

Experience moves this number a lot. The jump from the 10th percentile to the 90th is $129,180, which means a senior plant manager in North Carolina can out-earn an entry-level supervisor by more than two and a half times. The table below maps the BLS percentile points to the career stages they typically represent.

A few things stand out. Entry pay at $77,130 is strong for a first management rung, reflecting that few people walk into a production manager seat without years on the floor first. The early-career step to $97,460 is where most newly promoted supervisors land. The big climb happens between the median and the 75th percentile, a $35,390 jump, which usually tracks the move from running one line or shift to owning a whole plant’s output, budget, and headcount. The 90th-percentile figure of $206,310 belongs to multi-site directors and plant managers at the largest employers in the state.

It’s worth measuring the gaps between each rung, because they tell you where the money is in a career. The step from entry ($77,130) to early career ($97,460) is $20,330. The step from early career to the median ($125,940) is $28,480. From the median to experienced ($161,330) is the $35,390 jump already noted, the single largest move on the ladder. From experienced to senior ($206,310) is $44,980, the biggest gap of all in raw dollars, though it represents the smallest share of workers. The pattern is consistent: each rung pays more than the last, and the increases get larger as you climb, which is why scope and responsibility, not just years served, are what move this number. A manager who stalls at one line or one shift can sit near the median for a long time, while the people who take on full-plant or multi-plant accountability are the ones reaching the top two brackets.

For planning purposes, the median of $125,940 is the figure most North Carolina managers should anchor to, and the 25th-to-75th band of $97,460 to $161,330 is the realistic range for the bulk of mid-career professionals. The tails on either side, $77,130 and $206,310, are the floor and ceiling, useful for setting expectations on a first offer or a top-of-market negotiation.

Industrial production manager salary by North Carolina metro

Where you work inside North Carolina matters, though the spread between metros is tighter than in many states. The five largest metro markets for this role all cluster within about $6,000 of each other at the median, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). Raleigh-Cary leads, and Charlotte carries by far the most jobs.

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is the engine of the state’s manufacturing-management market, with 2,540 of these jobs, more than any other metro and roughly a quarter of the statewide total. Its $128,640 median sits comfortably above the state figure. Raleigh-Cary pays the highest median at $130,120, helped by the area’s pharmaceutical and life-sciences plants, where production roles often carry premium pay. The Triad metros, Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem, anchor the state’s furniture and textile heritage and pay close to the statewide median. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, the historic furniture corridor, comes in at $124,290, the lowest of the five but still within $1,650 of the state median. The takeaway is plain: in North Carolina, your employer and sector move your pay more than your zip code does.

Take-home pay after tax in North Carolina

Gross salary is the headline. Take-home is the number you actually live on. North Carolina applies a flat state income tax (4.25% for the 2026 tax year), which makes the math cleaner than in states with brackets. The table below runs each career stage through federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare), and North Carolina state tax to land on net annual and net monthly pay. Figures use a single-filer standard deduction; your own number shifts with filing status, dependents, and pre-tax benefits.

At the median, a North Carolina production manager keeps $92,022 of a $125,940 salary, an effective combined rate of 26.9%, and brings home about $7,669 a month. The senior earner at $206,310 nets $145,356 a year, or $12,113 a month, at a 29.5% effective rate. Notice how the state-tax column stays modest at every level thanks to the flat rate: $4,811 at the median, $8,226 even at the top.

The effective rate climbs gradually with income, from 22.3% at entry to 26.9% at the median, 28.9% at the experienced level, and 29.5% at the top. That progression is driven almost entirely by the federal side, which is bracketed, while the FICA and North Carolina components behave differently. FICA actually flattens at the top because Social Security tax stops applying above the annual wage cap, which is why the senior earner’s FICA of $13,966 is only $1,624 more than the experienced earner’s $12,342 despite a far larger salary. North Carolina’s flat tax, by contrast, rises in a straight line with income, so it never produces a surprise jump. For an entry-level manager at $77,130, the full tax bite is $17,219, leaving $59,911, or about $4,993 a month. That entry-level take-home is a useful reality check for anyone weighing a first management offer against staying in a senior individual-contributor role.

Here’s the comparison an AI summary won’t give you. Take that same $125,940 median salary and drop it in Texas, a state with no personal income tax. The Texas net comes to $96,833, versus $92,022 in North Carolina. That’s a gap of $4,811 a year, which is exactly the North Carolina state tax bill at the median, the only difference between the two states at this income. Over a decade that’s roughly $48,000, real money, but it’s also the entire difference, and North Carolina’s lower housing costs in many metros can close it fast.

That last point is the one that matters most. Net pay minus local housing is the figure that decides how comfortable a salary feels. A $92,022 take-home in Greensboro or Hickory, where housing runs well below big-coast averages, stretches further than a larger net in a high-cost metro. Before you accept or counter an offer, run the exact figure for your situation through the North Carolina paycheck calculator, then subtract what housing actually costs where you’d live. If you want help estimating your full tax picture or filing cleanly, tools like TurboTax can model deductions and credits before you commit.

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How to earn more as an industrial production manager in North Carolina

The percentile data shows the ceiling is high: the 90th percentile of $206,310 is $80,370 above the median. Closing that gap is mostly about scope, sector, and credentials. Concrete moves that pay off in this state:

• Target the higher-paying metros and sectors. Raleigh-Cary’s $130,120 median and Charlotte’s $128,640 both beat the state figure. Life-sciences and pharmaceutical plants in the Research Triangle and advanced-manufacturing sites around Charlotte tend to pay at the top of the range.
• Earn a recognized production credential. The APICS Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM) and Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), plus Six Sigma Green or Black Belt, are the certifications hiring managers in North Carolina manufacturing actually ask for. They map directly to the jump from line supervisor to plant manager.
• Move from one line to whole-plant P&L ownership. The biggest single salary step, $35,390, sits between the median and the 75th percentile, and it tracks the move to owning a full plant’s output, budget, and headcount.
• Add lean and continuous-improvement skills. Managers who can document measurable throughput or scrap-rate gains negotiate from a stronger position. Short, employer-recognized courses on lean manufacturing, supply-chain analytics, and Six Sigma through Coursera are a low-cost way to build that record.
• Take on multi-site or director scope. The $206,310 top of the range belongs to people responsible for more than one facility. If your employer has multiple North Carolina plants, raise your hand for cross-site projects before a director seat opens.

Job outlook for industrial production managers in North Carolina

North Carolina employs 9,640 industrial production managers, one of the larger state workforces for the role, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). The base is broad: furniture and textiles in the Triad and Hickory corridor, auto parts and aerospace components around Charlotte, pharmaceuticals and food processing in the Triangle. That sector mix matters because it spreads demand across industries, so a downturn in any one of them is less likely to hollow out the whole market.

The concentration in Charlotte (2,540 jobs) and the steady counts in Greensboro-High Point (1,040) and Raleigh-Cary (1,010) point to durable, year-round hiring rather than seasonal spikes. New plant investment in the Carolinas, especially in EV supply chains and life sciences, keeps replacement and growth demand healthy. To track live openings and pay ranges for the role in your metro, a board like ZipRecruiter lets you filter by location and compensation.

Two structural factors support the role’s stability here. First, industrial production managers are not easily automated out of a job; the work is people management, scheduling, quality oversight, and capital decisions, which sit above the line tasks that automation targets. As plants add automation, they often need more skilled managers to run it, not fewer. Second, the five metros covered above together account for 5,890 of the state’s 9,640 jobs, with the remaining 3,750 spread across smaller manufacturing towns. That distribution means opportunities exist well outside the big metros, often at the furniture, textile, and food-processing plants that built the state’s industrial base. A manager willing to work in a smaller market can find roles paying close to the state median while spending far less on housing.

Related and higher-paying roles in North Carolina

It helps to see where this role sits against adjacent jobs in the same state. Industrial production manager pay is well ahead of both common comparison roles in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025):

A purchasing agent in North Carolina earns $50,060 less than an industrial production manager here, and a food service manager earns $51,860 less. Both are management or specialist tracks, but the production manager’s responsibility for plant output, capital equipment, and large teams commands a clear premium. If you’re weighing a lateral move or a promotion path, these are the trade-offs in dollar terms.

North Carolina industrial production manager FAQ

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) 2025; federal and North Carolina tax tables for the 2026 tax year. Take-home figures are estimates for a single filer using the standard deduction. Last updated 2026. See our methodology.