Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,402
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$6,678
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,243
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
$39,080
Kept after tax
$32,402
Worth in national money
$29,243
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $39,080, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 15.01% above the national middle.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, this job lands at 373. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $39,080 the take-home is $32,402. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,243 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $45,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- District of Columbia's median for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers is $39,080, about 15.01% above the national figure and 3 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.
- Within District of Columbia, this work ranks 373 of 390 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $32,402 for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, from $39,080. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,243. ⚠️ 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 $45,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,830 |
| This salary | $39,080 |
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 | $32,402 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,581 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,314 |
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 | $37,613 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,427 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,080 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,400 and the ninetieth is $58,830 — 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 District of Columbia's $32,402, worked from $39,080. 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 373 of 390.
- Two cautions on $29,243, the adjusted value of that $39,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of District of Columbia. 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 373 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $39,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,400 to $58,830. 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 District of Columbia take-home of $32,402, on $39,080 for work ranking 373 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 373 of 390 in the state.
- This $29,243 adjusted figure, worked from $39,080, 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 373 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 373 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 $45,850, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,400 and the top tenth $58,830, so most people doing this work in District of Columbia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,243 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, $32,402 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 $45,850. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,400 to $58,830) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to District of Columbia rather than a national figure.
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 $29,243 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 $32,402 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.