Materials Engineers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$106,847
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$32,993
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$98,420
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
$139,840
Kept after tax
$106,847
Worth in national money
$98,420
State rank
3
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays materials engineers a middle wage of $139,840, ranking 3 of 45 states and sitting about 23.91% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Washington reports, materials engineers comes in at 34 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $139,840, tax leaves $106,847 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $98,420 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $149,070, since top earners drag the number up.
- Washington's median for materials engineers is $139,840, about 23.91% above the national figure and 3 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Materials engineers ranks 34 of 493 occupations by median in Washington, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After tax, $106,847 remains from the Washington median of $139,840 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $98,420 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $149,070 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $92,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $139,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $199,250 |
| This salary | $139,840 |
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 | $106,847 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $106,847 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,533 |
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 | $139,840 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$16,397 |
| 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 $139,840. The published range is $92,570 up to $199,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $106,847 take-home in Washington comes from $139,840. 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 34 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $98,420 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 34.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $92,570 to $199,250. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $106,847, from $139,840, 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 34 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $98,420, worked from $139,840, 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 34 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $149,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $92,570 at the bottom tenth to $199,250 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $98,420 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $106,847 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 Washington is $149,070. 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 ($92,570) and the ninetieth ($199,250) 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 $98,420 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 $106,847 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.