Tree Service Contractors Health Insurance in North Carolina

Wage benchmark and the 2026 subsidy cliff

$44,740median annual wage, Tree Service Contractors in North Carolina

286%of the federal poverty level

$62,6002026 subsidy cliff, single-person household

Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2026.

This occupation sits above the cliff in 1 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 20, so the answer changes with the state.

What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Tree Trimmers and Pruners (SOC 37-3013) in North Carolina. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed tree service contractor. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.

Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2026 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $62,600 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. State-level annual median wage (A_MEDIAN), detailed occupation. https://www.bls.gov/oes/. Retrieved 2026-08-03. Figures used unmodified; suppressed cells are omitted, not estimated.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines. 90 FR 5917, 17 January 2025. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines. Retrieved 2026-08-03. The 2025 guidelines govern premium tax credit eligibility for plan year 2026 coverage. The 2026 guidelines apply to 2027 coverage.
Full dataset for all occupations and states: CSV · JSON (CC BY 4.0).

All 21 states

Benchmark premium and median wage for this occupation, ranked by premium.

#	State	Benchmark @40	Median wage	vs cliff
1	Maryland	$414	$45,710	below
2	Virginia	$455	$49,090	below
3	Indiana	$474	$46,280	below
4	Nevada	$497	$49,680	below
5	Ohio	$513	$47,800	below
6	Michigan	$523	$48,070	below
7	Colorado	$557	$49,920	below
8	South Carolina	$564	$48,240	below
9	Oklahoma	$604	$44,500	below
10	Wisconsin	$611	$48,510	below
11	Georgia	$615	$41,730	below
12	North Carolina	$638	$44,740	below
13	Utah	$640	$53,900	below
14	Alabama	$645	$39,600	below
15	Illinois	$646	$64,550	above
16	South Dakota	$655	$49,430	below
17	Texas	$661	$40,030	below
18	Kansas	$670	$44,640	below
19	Florida	$683	$49,490	below
20	Nebraska	$710	$37,220	below
21	Arkansas	$774	$37,830	below

Questions

Does being a tree service contractor change what health insurance costs in North Carolina?

No. Under the ACA carriers may not rate, decline, or exclude based on occupation or health history. Premiums vary only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size, so the benchmark of $638 a month applies regardless of trade.

Do tree service contractors qualify for a subsidy in North Carolina in 2026?

Premium tax credit eligibility depends on household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not occupation. For reference, the BLS median wage for Tree Trimmers and Pruners in North Carolina is $44,740, which is below the 2026 cliff of $62,600 for a single-person household. Your own income and household size decide the answer.

What is the benchmark premium in North Carolina for 2026?

$638 a month for a 40-year-old, ranking 12 of 21 states published here. That is full price before any premium tax credit.

Where do these numbers come from?

Premiums come from the CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file and published state rate approvals. Wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Both are reproduced unmodified; the full wage dataset is downloadable as CSV or JSON.

Going deeper on North Carolina

This page compares states. For North Carolina specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — that is published on Coverage by County. To check whether a plan actually covers your hospital, see Plans By City.

← Tree Service Contractors in all states · All trades · All occupations

The 2027 picture for Tree Service Contractors in North Carolina

The biggest change here is a carrier walking away. Cigna leaves the ACA individual market on January 1, 2027 — one of the 6 carriers writing in North Carolina today. Every a tree service contractor on a Cigna plan is moving, and doing nothing just means the marketplace chooses the replacement.

Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. North Carolina has not finalised, so treat exact local 2027 pricing as unavailable rather than unknown.

The window opens November 1, 2026, and December 15 is the date worth writing down — it is what secures January 1 cover in North Carolina and everywhere else. You will find later dates quoted; they stem from a 2025 rule that was vacated in June 2026 and is under appeal.

Check before renewing: PPOs are sold in 90 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, not all. Whether yours has one decides how much out-of-network care is covered — usually a bigger question for Tree Service Contractors than the monthly figure.

Get a head start on 2027

You already know you are changing plans — Cigna is leaving. The only real question is whether you pick the replacement or the marketplace picks it for you, and that is a much easier decision made in August than in the second week of December.

Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:

Whether your current plan and carrier are still writing in your county for 2027
What your income estimate should realistically be — the number your credit is calculated from, and the one tree service contractors most often get wrong
Whether the doctors you actually use are in the 2027 network, before you are locked in

Map my 2027 options →

See what you would really pay as one of North Carolina’s Tree Service Contractors

There is no single North Carolina price. Enter your ZIP and I will pull what is filed in your county, then work out what help you qualify for.

One field. No account, no phone call unless you ask for one.