Library Technicians in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,455
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$10,115
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,318
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
$62,570
Kept after tax
$52,455
Worth in national money
$48,318
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for library technicians. The middle earner takes $62,570, which ranks 1 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 40.35% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 289 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $62,570 the take-home is $52,455; in national-average money that behaves like $48,318. The average comes to $64,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 1 of 51 states publishing a median for library technicians, at $62,570 — about 40.35% 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.
- Library technicians ranks 289 of 493 occupations in Washington by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Take-home for library technicians in Washington, on $62,570, is $52,455; deflated by the state's price level, $48,318. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $64,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,860 |
| This salary | $62,570 |
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 | $52,455 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,455 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,662 |
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 | $62,570 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,848 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 library technicians in Washington earn under $62,570 and half over. The published range runs $50,310 at the tenth percentile to $76,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $52,455 take-home in Washington comes from $62,570. 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 289 of 493.
- Two cautions on $48,318, the adjusted value of that $62,570 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 289 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for library technicians in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,310 to $76,860; 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.
- Retained pay of $52,455, from $62,570, 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 289 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- This $48,318 adjusted figure, worked from $62,570, 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 289 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 289 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $64,550, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $50,310 at the tenth percentile, $76,860 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,318 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $52,455 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Washington is $64,550. 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 ($50,310 to $76,860) 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 $48,318 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 $52,455 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.