First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$104,413
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$31,867
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$96,179
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
$136,280
Kept after tax
$104,413
Worth in national money
$96,179
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $136,280, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 28.52% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Washington. It ranks 38 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $136,280 the take-home is $104,413; in national-average money that behaves like $96,179. The average comes to $142,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for first-line supervisors of police and detectives, at $136,280 — about 28.52% 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.
- Within Washington, first-line supervisors of police and detectives ranks 38 of 493 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 first-line supervisors of police and detectives in Washington, on $136,280, is $104,413; deflated by the state's price level, $96,179. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $142,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $105,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $136,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $180,770 |
| This salary | $136,280 |
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 | $104,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $104,413 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,270 |
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 | $136,280 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,979 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 first-line supervisors of police and detectives in Washington earn under $136,280 and half over. The published range runs $105,710 at the tenth percentile to $180,770 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $104,413, worked from $136,280. 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 38 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $96,179, the adjusted value of that $136,280 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 38 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of police and detectives in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $105,710 to $180,770; 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.
- The Washington take-home of $104,413, on $136,280 for work ranking 38 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 38 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $96,179 — the adjusted value of that $136,280 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 38 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 $142,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $105,710 at the tenth percentile, $180,770 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $96,179 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $104,413 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 Washington is $142,670. 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 ($105,710 to $180,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
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 $96,179 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 $104,413 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.
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.