Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,101
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$7,609
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,678
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
$42,710
Kept after tax
$35,101
Worth in national money
$31,678
State rank
1
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 $42,710, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 19.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in District of Columbia, this one sits low: 356 of 390 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $42,710 the take-home is $35,101. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $31,678 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $43,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cleaners of vehicles and equipment, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $42,710, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 19.2% 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.
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipment occupies position 356 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $35,101 for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, from $42,710. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,678. ⚠️ 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 $43,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,540 |
| This salary | $42,710 |
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 | $35,101 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,497 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,880 |
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 | $40,972 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,111 |
| 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 cleaners of vehicles and equipment in District of Columbia earn under $42,710 and half over. The published range runs $36,400 at the tenth percentile to $54,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $35,101, from $42,710, 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 356 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $31,678, the adjusted value of that $42,710 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 356 of 390 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cleaners of vehicles and equipment in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,400 to $54,540; 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 $35,101 from $42,710. 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 356 of 390 locally.
- This $31,678 adjusted figure, worked from $42,710, 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 356 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 356 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,400 and the top tenth $54,540, 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 $31,678 rather than its face figure.
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 $35,101 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 ($36,400 to $54,540) 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 $31,678 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 $35,101 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.