Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,956
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$9,284
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,060
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
$49,240
Kept after tax
$39,956
Worth in national money
$36,060
State rank
1
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 $49,240, which ranks 1 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 25.36% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 321. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $49,240, tax leaves $39,956 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,060 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $52,800, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia ranks 1 of 50 states publishing a median for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, at $49,240 — about 25.36% 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.
- Against every occupation District of Columbia reports, mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ranks 321 of 390, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After tax, $39,956 remains from the District of Columbia median of $49,240 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,060 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $52,800 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,230 |
| This salary | $49,240 |
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 | $39,956 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,744 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,898 |
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 | $47,014 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,342 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,240 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,820 and the ninetieth is $72,230 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $39,956, worked from $49,240. 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 321 of 390.
- Two cautions on $36,060, the adjusted value of that $49,240 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 321 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $49,240 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,820 to $72,230. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $39,956, on $49,240 for work ranking 321 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 321 of 390 in the state.
- This $36,060 adjusted figure, worked from $49,240, 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 321 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 321 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 $52,800 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 $39,820 at the bottom tenth to $72,230 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 $36,060 rather than its face figure.
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 $39,956.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,800. 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 ($39,820 to $72,230) 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 $36,060 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 $39,956 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.