Interpreters and Translators in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,815
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$30,155
27.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,033
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
$109,970
Kept after tax
$79,815
Worth in national money
$72,033
State rank
1
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for interpreters and translators. The middle earner takes $109,970, which ranks 1 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 82.77% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in District of Columbia. It ranks 77 out of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $109,970 the take-home is $79,815; in national-average money that behaves like $72,033. The average lands at $102,960, below the middle of the range.
- District of Columbia ranks 1 of 47 states publishing a median for interpreters and translators, at $109,970 — about 82.77% 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, interpreters and translators ranks 77 of 390 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Take-home for interpreters and translators in District of Columbia, on $109,970, is $79,815; deflated by the state's price level, $72,033. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $102,960 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $109,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,610 |
| This salary | $109,970 |
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 | $79,815 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,194 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,667 |
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 | $100,903 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,022 |
| 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 interpreters and translators in District of Columbia earn under $109,970 and half over. The published range runs $58,720 at the tenth percentile to $128,610 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 $79,815, worked from $109,970. 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 77 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $72,033 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 77.
- Figures are distribution medians for interpreters and translators in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,720 to $128,610; 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 $79,815, on $109,970 for work ranking 77 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 77 of 390 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $72,033, worked from $109,970, 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 77 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 $102,960, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $58,720 at the tenth percentile, $128,610 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 $72,033 — 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, $79,815 remains.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $102,960. 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 ($58,720 to $128,610) 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 $72,033 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 $79,815 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.