Graphic Designers in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,177
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$21,743
24.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,724
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
$87,920
Kept after tax
$66,177
Worth in national money
$59,724
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays graphic designers a middle wage of $87,920, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 39.64% above the national middle.
- Against other work in District of Columbia, this sits in the middle: 159 of 390 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $87,920, tax leaves $66,177 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $59,724 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $94,630, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for graphic designers is $87,920, about 39.64% above the national figure and 1 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Graphic designers ranks 159 of 390 occupations in District of Columbia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After tax, $66,177 remains from the District of Columbia median of $87,920 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $59,724 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $94,630 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $87,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,660 |
| This salary | $87,920 |
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 | $66,177 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,682 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,012 |
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 | $81,517 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,974 |
| 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 $87,920. The published range is $62,240 up to $136,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $66,177 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $87,920. 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 159 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,724 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 159.
- Reported values are medians; for graphic designers in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,240 to $136,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $66,177, from $87,920, 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 159 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,724, worked from $87,920, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 159 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 $94,630, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,240, the highest tenth $136,660, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $59,724 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, $66,177 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 $94,630. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,240) and the ninetieth ($136,660) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $59,724 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 $66,177 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.