Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,978
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$29,022
27.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,375
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
$107,000
Kept after tax
$77,978
Worth in national money
$70,375
State rank
17
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. District of Columbia pays this job around $107,000 at the midpoint, 17 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 390 occupations District of Columbia reports, this job comes in at 91 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $107,000 the take-home is $77,978; in national-average money that behaves like $70,375. The average comes to $127,690, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For clinical and counseling psychologists the District of Columbia median is $107,000, ranking 17 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 91 of 390 occupations by median in District of Columbia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Take-home for clinical and counseling psychologists in District of Columbia, on $107,000, is $77,978; deflated by the state's price level, $70,375. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $127,690 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $324,950 |
| This salary | $107,000 |
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 | $77,978 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,105 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,175 |
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 | $98,291 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$22,342 |
| 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 clinical and counseling psychologists in District of Columbia earn under $107,000 and half over. The published range runs $70,400 at the tenth percentile to $324,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $77,978 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $107,000. 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 91 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,375 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 91.
- Figures are distribution medians for clinical and counseling psychologists in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $70,400 to $324,950; 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.
- Retained pay of $77,978, from $107,000, 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 91 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,375, worked from $107,000, 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 91 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 $127,690, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $70,400 at the bottom tenth to $324,950 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $70,375 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, $77,978 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $127,690. 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 ($70,400) and the ninetieth ($324,950) 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 $70,375 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 $77,978 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.