Operations Research Analysts in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,794
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$20,236
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,659
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
$98,030
Kept after tax
$77,794
Worth in national money
$71,659
State rank
13
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays operations research analysts a middle wage of $98,030, ranking 13 of 47 states and sitting about 10.22% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 133.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $98,030 the take-home is $77,794; in national-average money that behaves like $71,659. The average comes to $107,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington's median for operations research analysts is $98,030, about 10.22% above the national figure and 13 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, operations research analysts sits at 133 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.
- Take-home for operations research analysts in Washington, on $98,030, is $77,794; deflated by the state's price level, $71,659. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $107,340 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $155,790 |
| This salary | $98,030 |
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 | $77,794 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,794 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,397 |
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 | $98,030 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,599 |
| 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 operations research analysts in Washington earn under $98,030 and half over. The published range runs $68,580 at the tenth percentile to $155,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $77,794, from $98,030, 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 133 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 $71,659 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 133.
- Figures are distribution medians for operations research analysts in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $68,580 to $155,790; 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 $77,794 from $98,030. 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 133 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,659, worked from $98,030, 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 133 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $107,340, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $68,580 at the bottom tenth to $155,790 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $71,659 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $77,794 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.
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 Washington is $107,340. 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 ($68,580) and the ninetieth ($155,790) 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 $71,659 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 $77,794 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.