Medical Assistants in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,302
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$9,748
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,275
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
$51,050
Kept after tax
$41,302
Worth in national money
$37,275
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays medical assistants a middle wage of $51,050, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 11.73% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, medical assistants ranks 312. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $51,050, tax leaves $41,302 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $37,275 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $54,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for medical assistants is $51,050, about 11.73% above the national figure and 3 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation District of Columbia reports, medical assistants ranks 312 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, $41,302 remains from the District of Columbia median of $51,050 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $37,275 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $54,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,900 |
| This salary | $51,050 |
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 | $41,302 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,199 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,180 |
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 | $48,689 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,683 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,050 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,620 and the ninetieth is $76,900 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $41,302, from $51,050, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 312 of 390 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,275, the adjusted value of that $51,050 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 312 of 390 in the state.
- The District of Columbia median of $51,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,620 to $76,900. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,302 from $51,050. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 312 of 390 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $37,275 — the adjusted value of that $51,050 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 312 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 $54,890 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,620 and the top tenth $76,900 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $37,275 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and District of Columbia's own levy, $41,302 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $54,890. 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 ($39,620) and the ninetieth ($76,900) 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 $37,275 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 $41,302 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.