Electricians in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,641
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$18,329
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,729
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
$78,970
Kept after tax
$60,641
Worth in national money
$54,729
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for electricians. The middle earner takes $78,970, which ranks 7 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 24.97% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 390 occupations District of Columbia reports figures for, this is number 195.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $78,970, tax leaves $60,641 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $54,729 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $88,860, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia ranks 7 of 51 states publishing a median for electricians, at $78,970 — about 24.97% 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.
- In District of Columbia's occupational distribution, electricians sits at 195 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.
- After tax, $60,641 remains from the District of Columbia median of $78,970 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $54,729 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $88,860 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electricians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,790 |
| This salary | $78,970 |
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 | $60,641 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,385 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,529 |
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 | $73,648 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,495 |
| 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 $78,970. The published range is $51,950 up to $125,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $60,641 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $78,970. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 195 of 390.
- Two cautions on $54,729, the adjusted value of that $78,970 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 195 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for electricians in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,950 to $125,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $60,641, from $78,970, assumes a single District of Columbia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 195 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 51 for it.
- This $54,729 adjusted figure, worked from $78,970, 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 195 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 195 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $88,860 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $51,950 at the bottom tenth to $125,790 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $54,729 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and District of Columbia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,641 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $88,860. 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 ($51,950) and the ninetieth ($125,790) 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 $54,729 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 $60,641 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.