Medical Equipment Preparers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,450
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$9,380
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,550
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
$58,830
Kept after tax
$49,450
Worth in national money
$45,550
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for medical equipment preparers is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $58,830, putting the state 2 of 51 — about 23.33% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 330.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $58,830 the take-home is $49,450. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $45,550 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $58,170, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For medical equipment preparers, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $58,830, ranking 2 of 51 and running about 23.33% 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.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, medical equipment preparers sits at 330 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $49,450 for medical equipment preparers, from $58,830. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,550. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $58,170 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Equipment Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,880 |
| This salary | $58,830 |
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 | $49,450 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,450 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,338 |
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 | $58,830 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,455 |
| 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 medical equipment preparers in Washington earn under $58,830 and half over. The published range runs $41,210 at the tenth percentile to $79,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $49,450, from $58,830, 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 330 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,550 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 330.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical equipment preparers in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,210 to $79,880; 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.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,450 from $58,830. 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 330 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,550, worked from $58,830, 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 330 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $41,210 and the top tenth $79,880, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $45,550 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $49,450 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.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,210 to $79,880) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
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 $45,550 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 $49,450 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.
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.