Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$93,608
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$39,012
29.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,480
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
$132,620
Kept after tax
$93,608
Worth in national money
$84,480
State rank
1
of 51 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 $132,620, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 61.3% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in District of Columbia. It ranks 44 out of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $132,620 the take-home is $93,608; in national-average money that behaves like $84,480. The average comes to $133,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia's median for environmental scientists and specialists, including health is $132,620, about 61.3% above the national figure and 1 of 51 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, environmental scientists and specialists, including health ranks 44 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.
- Take-home for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in District of Columbia, on $132,620, is $93,608; deflated by the state's price level, $84,480. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $133,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $132,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $185,220 |
| This salary | $132,620 |
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 | $93,608 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,912 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,394 |
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 | $120,508 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,478 |
| 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 environmental scientists and specialists, including health in District of Columbia earn under $132,620 and half over. The published range runs $78,270 at the tenth percentile to $185,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $93,608 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $132,620. 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 44 of 390.
- Two cautions on $84,480, the adjusted value of that $132,620 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 44 of 390 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $78,270 to $185,220; 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 $93,608, from $132,620, 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 44 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- This $84,480 adjusted figure, worked from $132,620, 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 44 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 44 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $78,270, the highest tenth $185,220, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $84,480 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and District of Columbia's own levy, $93,608 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($78,270) and the ninetieth ($185,220) 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?
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 $84,480 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 $93,608 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.