Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,203
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$26,077
26.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,065
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
$99,280
Kept after tax
$73,203
Worth in national money
$66,065
State rank
1
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $99,280, ranking 1 of 50 states and sitting about 78.66% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 390 occupations District of Columbia reports figures for, this is number 126.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $99,280, tax leaves $73,203 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $66,065 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $93,590.
- District of Columbia's median for legal secretaries and administrative assistants is $99,280, about 78.66% above the national figure and 1 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In District of Columbia's occupational distribution, legal secretaries and administrative assistants sits at 126 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.
- After tax, $73,203 remains from the District of Columbia median of $99,280 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $66,065 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $93,590 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,060 |
| This salary | $99,280 |
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 | $73,203 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,673 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,895 |
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 | $91,504 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,575 |
| 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 $99,280. The published range is $60,680 up to $123,060, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $73,203, from $99,280, 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 126 of 390 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,065 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 126.
- Reported values are medians; for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,680 to $123,060. 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 $73,203 from $99,280. 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 126 of 390 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,065, worked from $99,280, 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 126 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 $93,590 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $60,680 at the bottom tenth to $123,060 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $66,065 rather than its face figure.
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 $73,203 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $93,590. 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 ($60,680 to $123,060) 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 $66,065 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 $73,203 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.