Cargo and Freight Agents in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,959
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$17,291
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,210
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
$76,250
Kept after tax
$58,959
Worth in national money
$53,210
State rank
1
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cargo and freight agents is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $76,250, putting the state 1 of 48 — about 45.91% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cargo and freight agents ranks 211 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $76,250 the take-home is $58,959. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $53,210 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $73,770, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For cargo and freight agents, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $76,250, ranking 1 of 48 and running about 45.91% 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.
- Position 211 of 390 in District of Columbia places cargo and freight agents in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $58,959 for cargo and freight agents, from $76,250. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,210. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $73,770 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cargo and Freight Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,700 |
| This salary | $76,250 |
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 | $58,959 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,472 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,078 |
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 | $71,257 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,611 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,250 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $53,490 and the ninetieth is $84,700 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $58,959 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $76,250. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 211 of 390.
- Two cautions on $53,210, the adjusted value of that $76,250 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 211 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $76,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $53,490 to $84,700. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $58,959, from $76,250, assumes a single District of Columbia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 211 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 48 for it.
- This $53,210 adjusted figure, worked from $76,250, 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 211 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 211 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 $73,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $53,490 and the top tenth $84,700, so most people doing this work in District of Columbia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $53,210 rather than its face figure.
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, $58,959 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $73,770. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($53,490 to $84,700) 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 $53,210 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 $58,959 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.