Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,131
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$8,309
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,510
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
$45,440
Kept after tax
$37,131
Worth in national money
$33,510
State rank
11
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $45,440, putting the state 11 of 48 — about 7.27% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, this job lands at 347. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $45,440 the take-home is $37,131; in national-average money that behaves like $33,510. The average lands at $44,470, below the middle of the range.
- For helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,440, ranking 11 of 48 and running about 7.27% 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.
- Within District of Columbia, this work ranks 347 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.
- Take-home for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in District of Columbia, on $45,440, is $37,131; deflated by the state's price level, $33,510. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $44,470 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,920 |
| This salary | $45,440 |
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 | $37,131 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,691 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,306 |
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 | $43,498 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,626 |
| 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 $45,440. The published range is $37,340 up to $49,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $37,131, from $45,440, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 347 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,510, the adjusted value of that $45,440 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of District of Columbia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 347 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,340 to $49,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,131 from $45,440. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 347 of 390 locally.
- This $33,510 adjusted figure, worked from $45,440, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 347 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 347 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,340 at the tenth percentile, $49,920 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in District of Columbia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $33,510 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $37,131 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,340 to $49,920) 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 $33,510 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 $37,131 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.