Construction and Building Inspectors in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,113
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$21,087
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,764
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
$86,200
Kept after tax
$65,113
Worth in national money
$58,764
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for construction and building inspectors is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $86,200, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 15.41% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Construction and building inspectors ranks 163 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $86,200 the take-home is $65,113. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $58,764 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $93,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For construction and building inspectors, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $86,200, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 15.41% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 163 of 390 in District of Columbia places construction and building inspectors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $65,113 for construction and building inspectors, from $86,200. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,764. ⚠️ 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 $93,030 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: Construction and Building Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,810 |
| This salary | $86,200 |
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 | $65,113 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,472 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,727 |
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 | $80,005 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,580 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $86,200 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $68,120 and the ninetieth is $131,810 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $65,113 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $86,200. 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 163 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 $58,764, the adjusted value of that $86,200 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 163 of 390 in the state.
- The District of Columbia median of $86,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $68,120 to $131,810. 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 $65,113, from $86,200, 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 163 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $58,764 — the adjusted value of that $86,200 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 163 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $93,030, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $68,120 and the top tenth $131,810 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $58,764 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $65,113.
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 District of Columbia is $93,030. 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 ($68,120) and the ninetieth ($131,810) 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 $58,764 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 $65,113 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.
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.