Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,558
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$12,972
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,782
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
$73,530
Kept after tax
$60,558
Worth in national money
$55,782
State rank
4
of 50 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 $73,530, ranking 4 of 50 states and sitting about 18.06% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 243.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $73,530 the take-home is $60,558; in national-average money that behaves like $55,782. The average comes to $76,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington's median for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other is $73,530, about 18.06% above the national figure and 4 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 Washington's occupational distribution, life, physical, and social science technicians, all other sits at 243 of 493 — 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.
- Take-home for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other in Washington, on $73,530, is $60,558; deflated by the state's price level, $55,782. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $76,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $112,880 |
| This salary | $73,530 |
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 | $60,558 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,558 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,537 |
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 | $73,530 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,780 |
| 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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other in Washington earn under $73,530 and half over. The published range runs $48,420 at the tenth percentile to $112,880 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 Washington's $60,558, worked from $73,530. 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 243 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,782 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 243.
- Figures are distribution medians for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,420 to $112,880; 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 Washington take-home of $60,558, on $73,530 for work ranking 243 of 493 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 243 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,782, worked from $73,530, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 243 of 493 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 $76,420 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $48,420 at the bottom tenth to $112,880 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $55,782 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $60,558 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 Washington is $76,420. 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 ($48,420) and the ninetieth ($112,880) 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?
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 $55,782 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 $60,558 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.
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.