Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,172
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$7,288
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,840
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
$41,460
Kept after tax
$34,172
Worth in national money
$30,840
State rank
18
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $41,460, ranking 18 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 363. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $41,460 the take-home is $34,172; in national-average money that behaves like $30,840. The average comes to $48,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia occupies the middle band for office machine operators, except computer: a median of $41,460, ranking 18 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Against every occupation District of Columbia reports, office machine operators, except computer ranks 363 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.
- Take-home for office machine operators, except computer in District of Columbia, on $41,460, is $34,172; deflated by the state's price level, $30,840. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $48,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,690 |
| This salary | $41,460 |
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 | $34,172 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,493 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,685 |
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 | $39,815 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,876 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
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 office machine operators, except computer in District of Columbia earn under $41,460 and half over. The published range runs $39,250 at the tenth percentile to $70,690 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 District of Columbia's $34,172, worked from $41,460. 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 363 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 $30,840, the adjusted value of that $41,460 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 363 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for office machine operators, except computer in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,250 to $70,690; 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 District of Columbia take-home of $34,172, on $41,460 for work ranking 363 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 363 of 390 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $30,840 — the adjusted value of that $41,460 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 363 of 390 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 $48,290, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $39,250, the highest tenth $70,690, 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 $30,840 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and District of Columbia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $34,172 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $48,290. 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 ($39,250) and the ninetieth ($70,690) 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?
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 $30,840 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 $34,172 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.