Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$93,222
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$26,738
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,870
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$119,960
Kept after tax
$93,222
Worth in national money
$85,870
State rank
12
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $119,960, which ranks 12 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 9.78% above the national middle.
- Within Washington this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 69 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $119,960 the take-home is $93,222; in national-average money that behaves like $85,870. The average comes to $125,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 12 of 48 states publishing a median for engineering teachers, postsecondary, at $119,960 — about 9.78% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Washington publishes a median for, engineering teachers, postsecondary sits 69 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for engineering teachers, postsecondary in Washington, on $119,960, is $93,222; deflated by the state's price level, $85,870. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $125,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $119,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $211,220 |
| This salary | $119,960 |
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 Washington | $93,222 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $93,222 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,062 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $119,960 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,899 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $119,960. The published range is $67,170 up to $211,220, 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 Washington's $93,222, worked from $119,960. 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 69 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $85,870 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 69.
- Reported values are medians; for engineering teachers, postsecondary in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $67,170 to $211,220. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Washington take-home of $93,222, on $119,960 for work ranking 69 of 493 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 69 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,870, worked from $119,960, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 69 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $125,450, 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 $67,170 and the top tenth $211,220 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $85,870 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $93,222 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 Washington is $125,450. 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 ($67,170) and the ninetieth ($211,220) 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?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $85,870 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $93,222 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.