Emergency Medical Technicians in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,030
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$8,620
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,322
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
$46,650
Kept after tax
$38,030
Worth in national money
$34,322
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $46,650, putting the state 15 of 51 — about 4.9% ahead of the national figure.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 339. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,650 the take-home is $38,030. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $34,322 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $51,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For emergency medical technicians, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,650, ranking 15 of 51 and running about 4.9% 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.
- Against every occupation District of Columbia reports, emergency medical technicians ranks 339 of 390, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $38,030 for emergency medical technicians, from $46,650. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,322. ⚠️ 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 $51,220 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: Emergency Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,670 |
| This salary | $46,650 |
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 | $38,030 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,663 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,494 |
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 | $44,618 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,854 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,650 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,310 and the ninetieth is $73,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $38,030, from $46,650, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 339 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $34,322, the adjusted value of that $46,650 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 339 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $46,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,310 to $73,670. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,030 from $46,650. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 339 of 390 locally.
- This $34,322 adjusted figure, worked from $46,650, 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 339 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 339 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 $51,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,310 and the top tenth $73,670 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $34,322 — 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 $38,030.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $51,220. 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 ($39,310) and the ninetieth ($73,670) 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 $34,322 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 $38,030 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.