Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,540
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$6,380
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,464
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
$37,920
Kept after tax
$31,540
Worth in national money
$28,464
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $37,920, which ranks 6 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 7.24% above the national middle.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 385. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $37,920 the take-home is $31,540. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,464 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $41,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- District of Columbia ranks 6 of 51 states publishing a median for food servers, nonrestaurant, at $37,920 — about 7.24% 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 District of Columbia, this work ranks 385 of 390 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $31,540 for food servers, nonrestaurant, from $37,920. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,464. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $41,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,650 |
| This salary | $37,920 |
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 | $31,540 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,649 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,134 |
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 | $36,540 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,209 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,920 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,400 and the ninetieth is $54,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,540 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $37,920. 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 385 of 390.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,464, the adjusted value of that $37,920 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 385 of 390 in the state.
- The District of Columbia median of $37,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,400 to $54,650. 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 $31,540, from $37,920, 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 385 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $28,464 — the adjusted value of that $37,920 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 385 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 $41,460, 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 $36,400 at the bottom tenth to $54,650 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,464 rather than its face figure.
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, $31,540 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.
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 $41,460. 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 ($36,400 to $54,650) 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 $28,464 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 $31,540 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.