Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,108
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$9,682
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,100
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
$50,790
Kept after tax
$41,108
Worth in national money
$37,100
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for ophthalmic medical technicians is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $50,790, putting the state 5 of 51 — about 11.45% ahead of the national figure.
- Within District of Columbia this is lower-paid work. Of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 313. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $50,790, tax leaves $41,108 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $37,100 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $53,130, since top earners drag the number up.
- For ophthalmic medical technicians, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,790, ranking 5 of 51 and running about 11.45% 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.
- Against every occupation District of Columbia reports, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 313 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.
- After tax, $41,108 remains from the District of Columbia median of $50,790 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $37,100 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $53,130 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,400 |
| This salary | $50,790 |
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 | $41,108 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,990 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,139 |
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 | $48,448 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,634 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,790 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,760 and the ninetieth is $64,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $41,108, from $50,790, 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 313 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,100, the adjusted value of that $50,790 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of District of Columbia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 313 of 390 locally.
- The District of Columbia median of $50,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,760 to $64,400. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,108 from $50,790. 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 313 of 390 locally.
- This $37,100 adjusted figure, worked from $50,790, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 313 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 313 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,760 at the bottom tenth to $64,400 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,100 of national purchasing power.
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 $41,108.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 District of Columbia is $53,130. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,760 to $64,400) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to District of Columbia rather than a national figure.
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 $37,100 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 $41,108 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.
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.