Natural Sciences Managers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$135,991
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$46,489
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$125,266
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
$182,480
Kept after tax
$135,991
Worth in national money
$125,266
State rank
5
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays natural sciences managers a middle wage of $182,480, ranking 5 of 48 states and sitting about 9.13% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Washington. It ranks 8 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $182,480 the take-home is $135,991; in national-average money that behaves like $125,266. The average comes to $200,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington's median for natural sciences managers is $182,480, about 9.13% above the national figure and 5 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Washington, natural sciences managers ranks 8 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Take-home for natural sciences managers in Washington, on $182,480, is $135,991; deflated by the state's price level, $125,266. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $200,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Natural Sciences Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $117,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $182,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $324,740 |
| This salary | $182,480 |
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 | $135,991 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $135,991 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,679 |
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 | $182,480 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,869 |
| 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 $182,480. The published range is $117,590 up to $324,740, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $135,991 take-home in Washington comes from $182,480. 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 8 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $125,266 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 8.
- Reported values are medians; for natural sciences managers in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $117,590 to $324,740. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $135,991, from $182,480, 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 8 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $125,266, worked from $182,480, 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 8 of 493 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 $200,200 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $117,590, the highest tenth $324,740, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $125,266 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $135,991 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $200,200. 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 ($117,590) and the ninetieth ($324,740) 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 $125,266 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 $135,991 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.