Order Clerks in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,889
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$9,261
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,000
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
$49,150
Kept after tax
$39,889
Worth in national money
$36,000
State rank
6
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for order clerks. The middle earner takes $49,150, which ranks 6 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 6.45% above the national middle.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, order clerks lands at 324. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $49,150, tax leaves $39,889 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $36,000 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $51,040, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia ranks 6 of 48 states publishing a median for order clerks, at $49,150 — about 6.45% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within District of Columbia, this work ranks 324 of 390 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After tax, $39,889 remains from the District of Columbia median of $49,150 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $36,000 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $51,040 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Order Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,100 |
| This salary | $49,150 |
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 | $39,889 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,672 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,884 |
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 | $46,931 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,325 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,150 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,330 and the ninetieth is $60,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,889 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $49,150. 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 324 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,000 uses one figure for the whole of District of Columbia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 390 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 324.
- The District of Columbia median of $49,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,330 to $60,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,889, from $49,150, 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 324 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,000, worked from $49,150, 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 District of Columbia address, on work sitting at 324 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 $51,040, 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 $42,330 at the bottom tenth to $60,100 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $36,000 rather than its face figure.
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 $39,889 of this wage survives to your account.
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 District of Columbia is $51,040. 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 ($42,330 to $60,100) 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 $36,000 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 $39,889 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.