Health Education Specialists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,708
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$27,622
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,326
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
$103,330
Kept after tax
$75,708
Worth in national money
$68,326
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for health education specialists is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $103,330, putting the state 2 of 51 — about 61.28% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 390 occupations District of Columbia reports figures for, this is number 104.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $103,330 the take-home is $75,708; in national-average money that behaves like $68,326. The average comes to $109,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For health education specialists, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $103,330, ranking 2 of 51 and running about 61.28% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In District of Columbia's occupational distribution, health education specialists sits at 104 of 390 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for health education specialists in District of Columbia, on $103,330, is $75,708; deflated by the state's price level, $68,326. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $109,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $170,980 |
| This salary | $103,330 |
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 | $75,708 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,523 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,566 |
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 | $95,065 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,502 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
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 health education specialists in District of Columbia earn under $103,330 and half over. The published range runs $63,250 at the tenth percentile to $170,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $75,708 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $103,330. 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 104 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $68,326 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 104.
- Figures are distribution medians for health education specialists in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,250 to $170,980; 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.
- Retained pay of $75,708, from $103,330, 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 104 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $68,326, worked from $103,330, 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 104 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $109,310, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,250, the highest tenth $170,980, 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 $68,326 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $75,708.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $109,310. 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 ($63,250) and the ninetieth ($170,980) 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 $68,326 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 $75,708 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.