Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,201
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$20,829
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,955
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$100,030
Kept after tax
$79,201
Worth in national money
$72,955
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays this job a middle wage of $100,030, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 46.52% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Washington. It ranks 123 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $100,030 the take-home is $79,201; in national-average money that behaves like $72,955. The average lands at $98,530, below the middle of the range.
- Washington's median for librarians and media collections specialists is $100,030, about 46.52% above the national figure and 1 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Washington, librarians and media collections specialists ranks 123 of 493 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 librarians and media collections specialists in Washington, on $100,030, is $79,201; deflated by the state's price level, $72,955. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $98,530 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,690 |
| This salary | $100,030 |
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 Washington | $79,201 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,201 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,549 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $100,030 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,809 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $100,030. The published range is $64,440 up to $129,690, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $79,201 take-home in Washington comes from $100,030. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 123 of 493.
- Two cautions on $72,955, the adjusted value of that $100,030 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. 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 123 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $64,440 to $129,690. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $79,201, from $100,030, assumes a single Washington filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 123 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- This $72,955 adjusted figure, worked from $100,030, 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 123 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 123 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $64,440 at the tenth percentile, $129,690 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $72,955 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $79,201 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($64,440 to $129,690) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $72,955 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $79,201 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.