Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,429
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$21,281
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,049
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
$86,710
Kept after tax
$65,429
Worth in national money
$59,049
State rank
5
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $86,710, which ranks 5 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 10.87% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 390 occupations District of Columbia reports figures for, this is number 161.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $86,710 the take-home is $65,429. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $59,049 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $92,350, because the best-paid pull it up.
- District of Columbia ranks 5 of 50 states publishing a median for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists, at $86,710 — about 10.87% 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.
- In District of Columbia's occupational distribution, compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists sits at 161 of 390 — 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 District of Columbia income tax is $65,429 for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists, from $86,710. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $59,049. ⚠️ 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 $92,350 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,930 |
| This salary | $86,710 |
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 | $65,429 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,830 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,812 |
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 | $80,453 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,697 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in District of Columbia earn less than $86,710. The published range is $60,560 up to $127,930, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $65,429 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $86,710. 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 161 of 390.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $59,049, the adjusted value of that $86,710 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 161 of 390 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,560 to $127,930. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $65,429, from $86,710, 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 161 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $59,049 — the adjusted value of that $86,710 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 161 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 $92,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $60,560 at the bottom tenth to $127,930 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $59,049 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $65,429 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $92,350. 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 ($60,560) and the ninetieth ($127,930) 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 $59,049 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 $65,429 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.