Engineers, All Other in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$105,159
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$46,761
30.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$94,905
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
$151,920
Kept after tax
$105,159
Worth in national money
$94,905
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for engineers, all other. The middle earner takes $151,920, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 23.58% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, engineers, all other ranks 23 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $151,920, tax leaves $105,159 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $94,905 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $146,600.
- District of Columbia ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for engineers, all other, at $151,920 — about 23.58% 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 District of Columbia publishes a median for, engineers, all other sits 23 of 390 — 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.
- After tax, $105,159 remains from the District of Columbia median of $151,920 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $94,905 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $146,600 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $101,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $151,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $195,190 |
| This salary | $151,920 |
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 | $105,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $115,103 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$23,544 |
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 | $137,370 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$33,378 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $151,920 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $101,990 and the ninetieth is $195,190 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $105,159 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $151,920. 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 23 of 390.
- Two cautions on $94,905, the adjusted value of that $151,920 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 23 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $151,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $101,990 to $195,190. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $105,159, from $151,920, 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 23 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- This $94,905 adjusted figure, worked from $151,920, 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 23 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 23 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 $146,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $101,990 at the bottom tenth to $195,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $94,905 rather than its face figure.
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 $105,159 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 $146,600. 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 ($101,990 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 $94,905 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 $105,159 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.