Architectural and Engineering Managers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$125,133
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$60,087
32.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$112,932
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
$185,220
Kept after tax
$125,133
Worth in national money
$112,932
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $185,220, putting the state 5 of 51 — about 8.15% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in District of Columbia. It ranks 7 out of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $185,220, tax leaves $125,133 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $112,932 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $185,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- For architectural and engineering managers, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $185,220, ranking 5 of 51 and running about 8.15% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within District of Columbia, architectural and engineering managers ranks 7 of 390 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After tax, $125,133 remains from the District of Columbia median of $185,220 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $112,932 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $185,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Architectural and Engineering Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $138,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $185,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $225,080 |
| This salary | $185,220 |
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 | $125,133 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $137,909 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$28,986 |
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 | $166,594 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$41,144 |
| 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 architectural and engineering managers in District of Columbia earn under $185,220 and half over. The published range runs $138,470 at the tenth percentile to $225,080 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $125,133, from $185,220, 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 7 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $112,932, the adjusted value of that $185,220 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of District of Columbia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 7 of 390 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for architectural and engineering managers in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $138,470 to $225,080; 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 $125,133 from $185,220. 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 7 of 390 locally.
- This $112,932 adjusted figure, worked from $185,220, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 7 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 7 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $138,470 at the bottom tenth to $225,080 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in District of Columbia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $112,932 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $125,133 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($138,470 to $225,080) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to District of Columbia rather than a national figure.
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 $112,932 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 $125,133 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.