Massage Therapists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,972
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$13,138
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,002
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
$64,110
Kept after tax
$50,972
Worth in national money
$46,002
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for massage therapists is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $64,110, putting the state 10 of 50 — about 9.68% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in District of Columbia, this sits in the middle: 256 of 390 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $64,110, tax leaves $50,972 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $46,002 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $76,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- For massage therapists, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $64,110, ranking 10 of 50 and running about 9.68% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Massage therapists ranks 256 of 390 occupations in District of Columbia 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.
- After tax, $50,972 remains from the District of Columbia median of $64,110 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $46,002 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $76,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,110 |
| This salary | $64,110 |
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 | $50,972 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,692 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,252 |
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 | $60,724 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,189 |
| 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 $64,110. The published range is $44,130 up to $134,110, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $50,972, worked from $64,110. 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 256 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $46,002 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 256.
- Reported values are medians; for massage therapists in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,130 to $134,110. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $50,972, on $64,110 for work ranking 256 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 256 of 390 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,002, worked from $64,110, 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 256 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 $76,020 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $44,130, the highest tenth $134,110, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in District of Columbia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $46,002 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $50,972.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $76,020. 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 ($44,130) and the ninetieth ($134,110) 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?
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 $46,002 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 $50,972 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.