Computer Programmers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$97,127
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$28,493
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$89,467
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
$125,620
Kept after tax
$97,127
Worth in national money
$89,467
State rank
3
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for computer programmers. The middle earner takes $125,620, which ranks 3 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 25.13% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Washington reports, computer programmers comes in at 60 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $125,620 the take-home is $97,127; in national-average money that behaves like $89,467. The average comes to $126,540, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 3 of 46 states publishing a median for computer programmers, at $125,620 — about 25.13% 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.
- Computer programmers ranks 60 of 493 occupations by median in Washington, 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 computer programmers in Washington, on $125,620, is $97,127; deflated by the state's price level, $89,467. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $126,540 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $84,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $125,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,400 |
| This salary | $125,620 |
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 | $97,127 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $97,127 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,484 |
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 | $125,620 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,590 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $125,620. The published range is $84,760 up to $166,400, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $97,127 take-home in Washington comes from $125,620. 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 60 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $89,467 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 60.
- Reported values are medians; for computer programmers in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $84,760 to $166,400. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $97,127, from $125,620, 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 60 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $89,467, worked from $125,620, 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 60 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $84,760 and the top tenth $166,400, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $89,467 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $97,127 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($84,760 to $166,400) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
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 $89,467 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 $97,127 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.