Optometrists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,936
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$39,904
29.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,679
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
$134,840
Kept after tax
$94,936
Worth in national money
$85,679
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia sits in the middle of the pack for optometrists. The median is $134,840, ranking 28 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in District of Columbia. It ranks 40 out of 390 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $134,840, tax leaves $94,936 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $85,679 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $145,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia occupies the middle band for optometrists: a median of $134,840, ranking 28 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within District of Columbia, optometrists ranks 40 of 390 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.
- After tax, $94,936 remains from the District of Columbia median of $134,840 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $85,679 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $145,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $102,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $207,570 |
| This salary | $134,840 |
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 | $94,936 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,429 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,757 |
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 | $122,414 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$29,042 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in District of Columbia earn less than $134,840. The published range is $102,570 up to $207,570, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $94,936 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $134,840. 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 40 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 $85,679, the adjusted value of that $134,840 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 40 of 390 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $102,570 to $207,570. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $94,936, from $134,840, assumes a single District of Columbia 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 40 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $85,679 — the adjusted value of that $134,840 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 40 of 390 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 $145,590 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 $102,570, the highest tenth $207,570, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $85,679 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $94,936 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $145,590. 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 ($102,570) and the ninetieth ($207,570) 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 $85,679 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 $94,936 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.