Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,017
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$12,743
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,283
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$72,760
Kept after tax
$60,017
Worth in national money
$55,283
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays this job a middle wage of $72,760, ranking 10 of 51 states and sitting about 15.62% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 248.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $72,760 the take-home is $60,017. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $55,283 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $76,370, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington's median for clinical laboratory technologists and technicians is $72,760, about 15.62% above the national figure and 10 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.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians sits at 248 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $60,017 for clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, from $72,760. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,283. ⚠️ 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 $76,370 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: Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $112,020 |
| This salary | $72,760 |
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 Washington | $60,017 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,017 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,478 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $72,760 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,614 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $72,760 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,780 and the ninetieth is $112,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,017 take-home in Washington comes from $72,760. 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 248 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,283 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 248.
- The Washington median of $72,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,780 to $112,020. 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 $60,017, from $72,760, assumes a single Washington 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 248 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,283, worked from $72,760, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 248 of 493 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 $76,370, 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 $46,780 at the bottom tenth to $112,020 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $55,283 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $60,017 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 Washington is $76,370. 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 ($46,780) and the ninetieth ($112,020) 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?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $55,283 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $60,017 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.