Emergency Management Directors in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$124,568
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$59,782
32.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$112,422
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
$184,350
Kept after tax
$124,568
Worth in national money
$112,422
State rank
1
of 47 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 $184,350, ranking 1 of 47 states and sitting about 97.52% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in District of Columbia. It ranks 9 out of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $184,350 the take-home is $124,568. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $112,422 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $165,390, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- District of Columbia's median for emergency management directors is $184,350, about 97.52% above the national figure and 1 of 47 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, emergency management directors ranks 9 of 390 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $124,568 for emergency management directors, from $184,350. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $112,422. ⚠️ 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 $165,390 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in 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: Emergency Management Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $89,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $184,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $195,190 |
| This salary | $184,350 |
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 | $124,568 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $137,269 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$28,838 |
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 | $165,767 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$41,000 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
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 emergency management directors in District of Columbia earn under $184,350 and half over. The published range runs $89,990 at the tenth percentile to $195,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $124,568 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $184,350. 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 9 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $112,422 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 9.
- Figures are distribution medians for emergency management directors in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $89,990 to $195,190; 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.
- Retained pay of $124,568, from $184,350, 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 9 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $112,422, worked from $184,350, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 9 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 $165,390, 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 $89,990 and the top tenth $195,190, 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 $112,422 of national purchasing power.
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 $124,568.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $165,390. 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 ($89,990 to $195,190) 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 $112,422 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 $124,568 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.