Museum Technicians and Conservators in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,873
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$17,237
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,132
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
$76,110
Kept after tax
$58,873
Worth in national money
$53,132
State rank
2
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $76,110, ranking 2 of 45 states and sitting about 47.96% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 212 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $76,110 the take-home is $58,873; in national-average money that behaves like $53,132. The average comes to $78,090, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia's median for museum technicians and conservators is $76,110, about 47.96% above the national figure and 2 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.
- Position 212 of 390 in District of Columbia places museum technicians and conservators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for museum technicians and conservators in District of Columbia, on $76,110, is $58,873; deflated by the state's price level, $53,132. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $78,090 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,290 |
| This salary | $76,110 |
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 | $58,873 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,373 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,055 |
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 | $71,134 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,565 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,110 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,420 and the ninetieth is $118,290 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $58,873, worked from $76,110. 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 212 of 390.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,132, the adjusted value of that $76,110 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 212 of 390 in the state.
- The District of Columbia median of $76,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,420 to $118,290. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $58,873, on $76,110 for work ranking 212 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 212 of 390 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $53,132 — the adjusted value of that $76,110 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 212 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,420 at the bottom tenth to $118,290 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $53,132 — 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 $58,873.
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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,420) and the ninetieth ($118,290) 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 $53,132 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 $58,873 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.