Curators in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,511
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$23,799
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,733
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
$93,310
Kept after tax
$69,511
Worth in national money
$62,733
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays curators a middle wage of $93,310, ranking 1 of 49 states and sitting about 47.13% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 390 occupations District of Columbia reports figures for, this is number 146.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $93,310 the take-home is $69,511; in national-average money that behaves like $62,733. The average comes to $100,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia's median for curators is $93,310, about 47.13% above the national figure and 1 of 49 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 District of Columbia's occupational distribution, curators sits at 146 of 390 — 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 curators in District of Columbia, on $93,310, is $69,511; deflated by the state's price level, $62,733. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $100,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,380 |
| This salary | $93,310 |
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 | $69,511 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,474 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,906 |
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 | $86,255 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$19,208 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $93,310 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,530 and the ninetieth is $161,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $69,511, from $93,310, 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 146 of 390 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $62,733 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 146.
- The District of Columbia median of $93,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,530 to $161,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $69,511 from $93,310. 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 146 of 390 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $62,733, worked from $93,310, 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 146 of 390 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 $100,420, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,530, the highest tenth $161,380, 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. District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $62,733 rather than its face figure.
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, $69,511 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $100,420. 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 ($62,530) and the ninetieth ($161,380) 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 $62,733 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 $69,511 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.