Construction Laborers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,536
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$9,484
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,583
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
$50,020
Kept after tax
$40,536
Worth in national money
$36,583
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays construction laborers a middle wage of $50,020, ranking 17 of 51 states and sitting about 6.15% above the national middle.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, construction laborers lands at 315. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $50,020, tax leaves $40,536 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,583 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $52,220, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for construction laborers is $50,020, about 6.15% above the national figure and 17 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.
- Within District of Columbia, this work ranks 315 of 390 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After tax, $40,536 remains from the District of Columbia median of $50,020 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,583 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $52,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,320 |
| This salary | $50,020 |
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 | $40,536 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,371 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,019 |
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 | $47,736 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,489 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
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 construction laborers in District of Columbia earn under $50,020 and half over. The published range runs $37,190 at the tenth percentile to $72,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,536 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $50,020. 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 315 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 $36,583, the adjusted value of that $50,020 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 315 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for construction laborers in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,190 to $72,320; 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.
- Retained pay of $40,536, from $50,020, 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 315 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $36,583 — the adjusted value of that $50,020 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 315 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 $52,220, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,190 at the bottom tenth to $72,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,583 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $40,536.
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 $52,220. 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 ($37,190 to $72,320) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to District of Columbia rather than a national figure.
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 $36,583 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 $40,536 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.