Firefighters in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,719
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$17,151
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,994
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
$75,870
Kept after tax
$58,719
Worth in national money
$52,994
State rank
7
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays firefighters a middle wage of $75,870, ranking 7 of 50 states and sitting about 27.99% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Firefighters ranks 213 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $75,870, tax leaves $58,719 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $52,994 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $79,550, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for firefighters is $75,870, about 27.99% above the national figure and 7 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 213 of 390 in District of Columbia places firefighters 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.
- After tax, $58,719 remains from the District of Columbia median of $75,870 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $52,994 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $79,550 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,760 |
| This salary | $75,870 |
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 | $58,719 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,205 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,019 |
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 | $70,916 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,492 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $75,870 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,050 and the ninetieth is $99,760 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $58,719, from $75,870, 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 213 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $52,994, the adjusted value of that $75,870 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 213 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $75,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,050 to $99,760. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- 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 $58,719 from $75,870. 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 213 of 390 locally.
- This $52,994 adjusted figure, worked from $75,870, 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 213 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 213 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $79,550, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $61,050 at the bottom tenth to $99,760 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $52,994 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $58,719 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $79,550. 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 ($61,050 to $99,760) 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 $52,994 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 $58,719 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.