Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$114,495
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$53,025
31.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$103,331
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
$167,520
Kept after tax
$114,495
Worth in national money
$103,331
State rank
2
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $167,520, which ranks 2 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 56.11% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 390 occupations District of Columbia reports, this job comes in at 15 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $167,520 the take-home is $114,495; in national-average money that behaves like $103,331. The average lands at $163,940, below the middle of the range.
- District of Columbia ranks 2 of 50 states publishing a median for health specialties teachers, postsecondary, at $167,520 — about 56.11% 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.
- Health specialties teachers, postsecondary ranks 15 of 390 occupations by median in District of Columbia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Take-home for health specialties teachers, postsecondary in District of Columbia, on $167,520, is $114,495; deflated by the state's price level, $103,331. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $163,940 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $167,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $304,510 |
| This salary | $167,520 |
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 | $114,495 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $125,766 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$26,091 |
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 | $151,030 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$37,094 |
| 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 specialties teachers, postsecondary in District of Columbia earn under $167,520 and half over. The published range runs $66,810 at the tenth percentile to $304,510 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 District of Columbia's $114,495, worked from $167,520. 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 15 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $103,331 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 15.
- Figures are distribution medians for health specialties teachers, postsecondary in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $66,810 to $304,510; 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 District of Columbia take-home of $114,495, on $167,520 for work ranking 15 of 390 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 15 of 390 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $103,331, worked from $167,520, 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 15 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $66,810 at the bottom tenth to $304,510 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $103,331 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and District of Columbia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $114,495 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($66,810) and the ninetieth ($304,510) 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 $103,331 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 $114,495 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.
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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.