Mechanical Drafters in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,873
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$13,947
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,914
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
$76,820
Kept after tax
$62,873
Worth in national money
$57,914
State rank
8
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for mechanical drafters. The middle earner takes $76,820, which ranks 8 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 7.37% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 227.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $76,820, tax leaves $62,873 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $57,914 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $87,150, since top earners drag the number up.
- Washington ranks 8 of 47 states publishing a median for mechanical drafters, at $76,820 — about 7.37% 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.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, mechanical drafters sits at 227 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.
- After tax, $62,873 remains from the Washington median of $76,820 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $57,914 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $87,150 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,690 |
| This salary | $76,820 |
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 | $62,873 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,873 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,786 |
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 | $76,820 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,374 |
| 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 mechanical drafters in Washington earn under $76,820 and half over. The published range runs $53,500 at the tenth percentile to $137,690 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 $62,873, worked from $76,820. 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 227 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,914, the adjusted value of that $76,820 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 227 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical drafters in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $53,500 to $137,690; 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 $62,873, on $76,820 for work ranking 227 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 227 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $57,914 — the adjusted value of that $76,820 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 227 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 $87,150, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $53,500 at the bottom tenth to $137,690 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 $57,914 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $62,873 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $87,150. 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 ($53,500) and the ninetieth ($137,690) 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 $57,914 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 $62,873 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.