Dental Hygienists in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$100,914
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$30,246
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$92,955
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
$131,160
Kept after tax
$100,914
Worth in national money
$92,955
State rank
3
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental hygienists is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $131,160, putting the state 3 of 50 — about 33.7% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Washington reports, dental hygienists comes in at 44 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $131,160 the take-home is $100,914; in national-average money that behaves like $92,955. The average comes to $131,530, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dental hygienists, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $131,160, ranking 3 of 50 and running about 33.7% 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.
- Dental hygienists ranks 44 of 493 occupations by median in Washington, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Take-home for dental hygienists in Washington, on $131,160, is $100,914; deflated by the state's price level, $92,955. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $131,530 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Hygienists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $107,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,050 |
| This salary | $131,160 |
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 | $100,914 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $100,914 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,893 |
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 | $131,160 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,312 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 dental hygienists in Washington earn under $131,160 and half over. The published range runs $107,090 at the tenth percentile to $162,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $100,914, from $131,160, 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 44 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $92,955, the adjusted value of that $131,160 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 44 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dental hygienists in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $107,090 to $162,050; 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.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $100,914 from $131,160. 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 44 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $92,955 — the adjusted value of that $131,160 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 44 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $107,090 at the tenth percentile, $162,050 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $92,955 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $100,914 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($107,090 to $162,050) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
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 $92,955 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 $100,914 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.
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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.