Electrical Engineers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$99,820
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$43,180
30.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,087
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
$143,000
Kept after tax
$99,820
Worth in national money
$90,087
State rank
3
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for electrical engineers is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $143,000, putting the state 3 of 49 — about 18.54% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 390 occupations District of Columbia reports, electrical engineers comes in at 26 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $143,000 the take-home is $99,820; in national-average money that behaves like $90,087. The average lands at $142,760, below the middle of the range.
- For electrical engineers, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $143,000, ranking 3 of 49 and running about 18.54% 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.
- Electrical engineers ranks 26 of 390 occupations by median in District of Columbia, 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 electrical engineers in District of Columbia, on $143,000, is $99,820; deflated by the state's price level, $90,087. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $142,760 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electrical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $87,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $143,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $195,190 |
| This salary | $143,000 |
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 | $99,820 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $109,007 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$22,088 |
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 | $129,560 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31,114 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in District of Columbia earn less than $143,000. The published range is $87,450 up to $195,190, 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 District of Columbia's $99,820, worked from $143,000. 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 26 of 390.
- Two cautions on $90,087, the adjusted value of that $143,000 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 26 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for electrical engineers in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $87,450 to $195,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $99,820, on $143,000 for work ranking 26 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 26 of 390 in the state.
- This $90,087 adjusted figure, worked from $143,000, 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 26 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 26 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $87,450 at the bottom tenth to $195,190 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in District of Columbia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $90,087 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $99,820.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($87,450) and the ninetieth ($195,190) 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 $90,087 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 $99,820 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.