Food Processing Workers, All Other in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,518
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$6,462
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,559
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
$43,980
Kept after tax
$37,518
Worth in national money
$34,559
State rank
9
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for food processing workers, all other. The middle earner takes $43,980, which ranks 9 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 10.84% above the national middle.
- Within Washington this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, food processing workers, all other ranks 457. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $43,980, tax leaves $37,518 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $34,559 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $45,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- Washington ranks 9 of 46 states publishing a median for food processing workers, all other, at $43,980 — about 10.84% 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.
- Against every occupation Washington reports, food processing workers, all other ranks 457 of 493, 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.
- After tax, $37,518 remains from the Washington median of $43,980 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $34,559 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $45,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Processing Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,880 |
| This salary | $43,980 |
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 | $37,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,518 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,050 |
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 | $43,980 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,898 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,980 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,700 and the ninetieth is $48,880 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,518 take-home in Washington comes from $43,980. 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 457 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,559, the adjusted value of that $43,980 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 457 of 493 in the state.
- The Washington median of $43,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,700 to $48,880. 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 $37,518, from $43,980, assumes a single Washington 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 457 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $34,559 — the adjusted value of that $43,980 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 457 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,700 at the tenth percentile, $48,880 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 $34,559 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $37,518 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,700 to $48,880) 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 $34,559 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 $37,518 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.