Accountants and Auditors in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,780
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$30,750
27.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,903
District of Columbia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in District of Columbia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$111,530
Kept after tax
$80,780
Worth in national money
$72,903
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays accountants and auditors a middle wage of $111,530, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 33.28% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, accountants and auditors ranks 71 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $111,530 the take-home is $80,780; in national-average money that behaves like $72,903. The average comes to $122,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia's median for accountants and auditors is $111,530, about 33.28% above the national figure and 1 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation District of Columbia publishes a median for, accountants and auditors sits 71 of 390 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for accountants and auditors in District of Columbia, on $111,530, is $80,780; deflated by the state's price level, $72,903. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $122,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $111,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $185,220 |
| This salary | $111,530 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in District of Columbia | $80,780 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $87,291 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,926 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $102,274 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,380 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of accountants and auditors in District of Columbia earn under $111,530 and half over. The published range runs $71,470 at the tenth percentile to $185,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $80,780, from $111,530, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 71 of 390 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $72,903, the adjusted value of that $111,530 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 71 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for accountants and auditors in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $71,470 to $185,220; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $80,780 from $111,530. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 71 of 390 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $72,903 — the adjusted value of that $111,530 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 71 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $122,680, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $71,470 and the top tenth $185,220 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $72,903 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and District of Columbia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $80,780 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in District of Columbia is $122,680. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($71,470) and the ninetieth ($185,220) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
District of Columbia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $72,903 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $80,780 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and District of Columbia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.