Bartenders in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,436
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$10,484
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,200
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
$53,920
Kept after tax
$43,436
Worth in national money
$39,200
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays bartenders a middle wage of $53,920, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 57.02% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in District of Columbia, this one sits low: 309 of 390 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $53,920, tax leaves $43,436 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $39,200 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $59,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for bartenders is $53,920, about 57.02% above the national figure and 4 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.
- Bartenders occupies position 309 of 390 in District of Columbia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $43,436 remains from the District of Columbia median of $53,920 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $39,200 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $59,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,560 |
| This salary | $53,920 |
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 | $43,436 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,505 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,627 |
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 | $51,345 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,224 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,920 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,400 and the ninetieth is $95,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $43,436, from $53,920, 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 309 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 $39,200, the adjusted value of that $53,920 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 309 of 390 in the state.
- The District of Columbia median of $53,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,400 to $95,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- 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 $43,436 from $53,920. 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 309 of 390 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $39,200 — the adjusted value of that $53,920 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 309 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $59,210, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,400, the highest tenth $95,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $39,200 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $43,436.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $59,210. 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 ($36,400) and the ninetieth ($95,560) 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 $39,200 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 $43,436 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.