Cost Estimators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,380
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$16,690
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,908
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
$86,070
Kept after tax
$69,380
Worth in national money
$63,908
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays cost estimators a middle wage of $86,070, ranking 5 of 51 states and sitting about 9.31% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 162 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $86,070 the take-home is $69,380. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $63,908 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $94,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington's median for cost estimators is $86,070, about 9.31% above the national figure and 5 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.
- Cost estimators ranks 162 of 493 occupations in Washington by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $69,380 for cost estimators, from $86,070. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,908. ⚠️ 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 $94,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,540 |
| This salary | $86,070 |
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 | $69,380 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,380 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,489 |
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 | $86,070 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,344 |
| 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 $86,070. The published range is $59,650 up to $141,540, 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 Washington's $69,380, worked from $86,070. 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 162 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,908, the adjusted value of that $86,070 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 162 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cost estimators in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,650 to $141,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Washington take-home of $69,380, on $86,070 for work ranking 162 of 493 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 162 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $63,908 — the adjusted value of that $86,070 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 162 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $94,250 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $59,650, the highest tenth $141,540, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $63,908 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $69,380 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 Washington is $94,250. 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 ($59,650) and the ninetieth ($141,540) 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?
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 $63,908 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 $69,380 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.