Conservation Scientists in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,020
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$14,430
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,971
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
$78,450
Kept after tax
$64,020
Worth in national money
$58,971
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays conservation scientists a middle wage of $78,450, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 7.45% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 209.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $78,450 the take-home is $64,020; in national-average money that behaves like $58,971. The average comes to $81,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington's median for conservation scientists is $78,450, about 7.45% above the national figure and 13 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, conservation scientists sits at 209 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.
- Take-home for conservation scientists in Washington, on $78,450, is $64,020; deflated by the state's price level, $58,971. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $81,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,710 |
| This salary | $78,450 |
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 | $64,020 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,020 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,910 |
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 | $78,450 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,545 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 conservation scientists in Washington earn under $78,450 and half over. The published range runs $59,700 at the tenth percentile to $106,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $64,020, from $78,450, 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 209 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $58,971, the adjusted value of that $78,450 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. 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 209 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for conservation scientists in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,700 to $106,710; 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 Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,020 from $78,450. 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 209 of 493 locally.
- This $58,971 adjusted figure, worked from $78,450, 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 209 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 209 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 $81,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $59,700 at the tenth percentile, $106,710 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $58,971 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $64,020 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 $81,300. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($59,700 to $106,710) 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 $58,971 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 $64,020 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.