Physician Assistants in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$95,116
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$40,024
29.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,841
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
$135,140
Kept after tax
$95,116
Worth in national money
$85,841
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. District of Columbia pays physician assistants around $135,140 at the midpoint, 21 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, physician assistants ranks 38 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $135,140, tax leaves $95,116 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $85,841 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $146,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- For physician assistants the District of Columbia median is $135,140, ranking 21 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation District of Columbia publishes a median for, physician assistants sits 38 of 390 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $95,116 remains from the District of Columbia median of $135,140 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $85,841 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $146,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physician Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $84,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $135,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,560 |
| This salary | $135,140 |
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 | $95,116 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,634 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,805 |
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 | $122,677 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$29,118 |
| 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 $135,140. The published range is $84,520 up to $213,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $95,116, worked from $135,140. 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 38 of 390.
- Two cautions on $85,841, the adjusted value of that $135,140 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 38 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for physician assistants in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $84,520 to $213,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $95,116, on $135,140 for work ranking 38 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 38 of 390 in the state.
- This $85,841 adjusted figure, worked from $135,140, 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 38 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 38 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 $146,230 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $84,520 and the top tenth $213,560 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $85,841 rather than its face figure.
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 $95,116.
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 $146,230. 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 ($84,520) and the ninetieth ($213,560) 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 $85,841 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 $95,116 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.