Buyers and Purchasing Agents in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$88,502
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$35,588
28.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,873
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
$124,090
Kept after tax
$88,502
Worth in national money
$79,873
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 buyers and purchasing agents a middle wage of $124,090, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 59.68% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, buyers and purchasing agents ranks 58 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $124,090, tax leaves $88,502 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $79,873 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $122,620.
- District of Columbia's median for buyers and purchasing agents is $124,090, about 59.68% 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, buyers and purchasing agents sits 58 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.
- After tax, $88,502 remains from the District of Columbia median of $124,090 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $79,873 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $122,620 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $182,310 |
| This salary | $124,090 |
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 | $88,502 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,082 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$19,002 |
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 | $113,251 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$26,312 |
| 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 buyers and purchasing agents in District of Columbia earn under $124,090 and half over. The published range runs $69,910 at the tenth percentile to $182,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $88,502, worked from $124,090. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 58 of 390.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $79,873, the adjusted value of that $124,090 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 58 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for buyers and purchasing agents in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $69,910 to $182,310; 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.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $88,502, on $124,090 for work ranking 58 of 390 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 58 of 390 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $79,873 — the adjusted value of that $124,090 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 58 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $69,910 and the top tenth $182,310 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $79,873 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and District of Columbia's own levy, $88,502 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($69,910) and the ninetieth ($182,310) 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 $79,873 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 $88,502 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.