Fast Food and Counter Workers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,175
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$6,255
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,135
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
$37,430
Kept after tax
$31,175
Worth in national money
$28,135
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fast food and counter workers is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $37,430, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 19.97% ahead of the national figure.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, fast food and counter workers ranks 388. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $37,430 the take-home is $31,175; in national-average money that behaves like $28,135. The average comes to $39,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For fast food and counter workers, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $37,430, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 19.97% 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, fast food and counter workers ranks 388 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.
- Take-home for fast food and counter workers in District of Columbia, on $37,430, is $31,175; deflated by the state's price level, $28,135. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $39,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,800 |
| This salary | $37,430 |
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 | $31,175 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,255 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,057 |
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 | $36,086 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,116 |
| 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 $37,430. The published range is $37,260 up to $46,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $31,175, from $37,430, 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 388 of 390 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,135, the adjusted value of that $37,430 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 388 of 390 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for fast food and counter workers in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,260 to $46,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- 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 $31,175 from $37,430. 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 388 of 390 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $28,135 — the adjusted value of that $37,430 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 388 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 $39,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,260 at the tenth percentile, $46,800 at the ninetieth.
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 $28,135 rather than its face figure.
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 $31,175.
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 $39,840. 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 ($37,260 to $46,800) 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 $28,135 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 $31,175 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.