Chefs and Head Cooks in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,064
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$17,356
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,305
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
$76,420
Kept after tax
$59,064
Worth in national money
$53,305
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for chefs and head cooks. The middle earner takes $76,420, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 22.33% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Chefs and head cooks ranks 210 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $76,420 the take-home is $59,064; in national-average money that behaves like $53,305. The average comes to $79,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for chefs and head cooks, at $76,420 — about 22.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 210 of 390 in District of Columbia places chefs and head cooks 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.
- Take-home for chefs and head cooks in District of Columbia, on $76,420, is $59,064; deflated by the state's price level, $53,305. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $79,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chefs and Head Cooks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,660 |
| This salary | $76,420 |
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 | $59,064 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,591 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,106 |
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 | $71,406 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,666 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,420 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $56,570 and the ninetieth is $104,660 — 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 $59,064, from $76,420, 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 210 of 390 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,305 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 210.
- The District of Columbia median of $76,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $56,570 to $104,660. 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 $59,064 from $76,420. 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 210 of 390 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,305, worked from $76,420, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 210 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $79,660 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $56,570 at the tenth percentile, $104,660 at the ninetieth.
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 $53,305 — 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 $59,064 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 $79,660. 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 ($56,570 to $104,660) 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 $53,305 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 $59,064 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.