Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,867
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$27,103
26.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,567
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
$101,970
Kept after tax
$74,867
Worth in national money
$67,567
State rank
38
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $101,970, 38 of 48 states and about 6.68% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 113 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $101,970 the take-home is $74,867. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $67,567 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $109,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- District of Columbia's $101,970 median for engineering teachers, postsecondary places it 38 of 48 states, about 6.68% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 113 of 390 in District of Columbia places engineering teachers, postsecondary in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $74,867 for engineering teachers, postsecondary, from $101,970. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,567. ⚠️ 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 $109,850 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: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,980 |
| This salary | $101,970 |
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 | $74,867 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,566 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,341 |
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 | $93,869 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,191 |
| 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 $101,970. The published range is $63,740 up to $171,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $74,867 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $101,970. 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 113 of 390.
- Two cautions on $67,567, the adjusted value of that $101,970 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 113 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for engineering teachers, postsecondary in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,740 to $171,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $74,867, from $101,970, 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 113 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 48 for it.
- This $67,567 adjusted figure, worked from $101,970, 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 113 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 113 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $109,850, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,740 and the top tenth $171,980 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $67,567 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 $74,867.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $109,850. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($63,740) and the ninetieth ($171,980) 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 $67,567 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 $74,867 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.