Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$90,288
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$25,502
22.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,167
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
$115,790
Kept after tax
$90,288
Worth in national money
$83,167
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $115,790, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 23.46% above the national middle.
- Within Washington this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 73 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $115,790 the take-home is $90,288; in national-average money that behaves like $83,167. The average comes to $118,040, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for detectives and criminal investigators, at $115,790 — about 23.46% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Washington publishes a median for, detectives and criminal investigators sits 73 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for detectives and criminal investigators in Washington, on $115,790, is $90,288; deflated by the state's price level, $83,167. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $118,040 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $84,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $115,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,860 |
| This salary | $115,790 |
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 | $90,288 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $90,288 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,746 |
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 | $115,790 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,462 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $115,790 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $84,500 and the ninetieth is $162,860 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $90,288, worked from $115,790. 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 73 of 493.
- Two cautions on $83,167, the adjusted value of that $115,790 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 73 of 493 locally.
- The Washington median of $115,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $84,500 to $162,860. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Washington take-home of $90,288, on $115,790 for work ranking 73 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 73 of 493 in the state.
- This $83,167 adjusted figure, worked from $115,790, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 73 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 73 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $84,500 at the tenth percentile, $162,860 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 $83,167 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $90,288 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($84,500 to $162,860) 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 $83,167 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 $90,288 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.