Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,206
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$19,294
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,141
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
$81,500
Kept after tax
$62,206
Worth in national money
$56,141
State rank
6
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 $81,500, which ranks 6 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 30.03% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 182 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $81,500 the take-home is $62,206; in national-average money that behaves like $56,141. The average comes to $86,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia ranks 6 of 50 states publishing a median for kindergarten teachers, except special education, at $81,500 — about 30.03% 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.
- Position 182 of 390 in District of Columbia places kindergarten teachers, except special education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for kindergarten teachers, except special education in District of Columbia, on $81,500, is $62,206; deflated by the state's price level, $56,141. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $86,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,530 |
| This salary | $81,500 |
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 | $62,206 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,165 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,948 |
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 | $75,872 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,317 |
| 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 $81,500. The published range is $63,530 up to $123,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $62,206, worked from $81,500. 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 182 of 390.
- Two cautions on $56,141, the adjusted value of that $81,500 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 182 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for kindergarten teachers, except special education in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,530 to $123,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $62,206, on $81,500 for work ranking 182 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 182 of 390 in the state.
- This $56,141 adjusted figure, worked from $81,500, 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 182 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 182 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $86,500 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,530 and the top tenth $123,530 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $56,141 of national purchasing power.
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 $62,206.
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.
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 $86,500. 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 ($63,530) and the ninetieth ($123,530) 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 $56,141 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 $62,206 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.