Cost Estimators in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,967
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$19,763
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,827
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
$82,730
Kept after tax
$62,967
Worth in national money
$56,827
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for cost estimators. The middle earner takes $82,730, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 5.07% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cost estimators ranks 176 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $82,730, tax leaves $62,967 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $56,827 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $92,030, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for cost estimators, at $82,730 — about 5.07% 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.
- Position 176 of 390 in District of Columbia places cost estimators 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.
- After tax, $62,967 remains from the District of Columbia median of $82,730 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $56,827 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $92,030 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,520 |
| This salary | $82,730 |
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 | $62,967 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,031 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,152 |
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 | $76,954 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,716 |
| 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 $82,730. The published range is $66,720 up to $127,520, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $62,967, worked from $82,730. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 176 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,827 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 176.
- Reported values are medians; for cost estimators in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,720 to $127,520. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $62,967, on $82,730 for work ranking 176 of 390 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 176 of 390 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,827, worked from $82,730, 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 District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 176 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 $92,030, 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 $66,720 and the top tenth $127,520 — 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 $56,827 of national purchasing power.
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, $62,967 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $92,030. 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 ($66,720) and the ninetieth ($127,520) 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 $56,827 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 $62,967 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.