Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,279
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$26,741
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,037
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
$101,020
Kept after tax
$74,279
Worth in national money
$67,037
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $101,020, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 58.34% above the national middle.
- Against other work in District of Columbia, this sits in the middle: 120 of 390 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $101,020 the take-home is $74,279. But District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $67,037 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $91,200, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- District of Columbia's median for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is $101,020, about 58.34% above the national figure and 1 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 120 of 390 occupations in District of Columbia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and District of Columbia income tax is $74,279 for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, from $101,020. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,037. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $91,200 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $117,180 |
| This salary | $101,020 |
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 | $74,279 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,898 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,184 |
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 | $93,034 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,973 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
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 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in District of Columbia earn under $101,020 and half over. The published range runs $52,310 at the tenth percentile to $117,180 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $74,279, worked from $101,020. 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 120 of 390.
- Two cautions on $67,037, the adjusted value of that $101,020 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 120 of 390 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,310 to $117,180; 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.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $74,279, on $101,020 for work ranking 120 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 120 of 390 in the state.
- This $67,037 adjusted figure, worked from $101,020, 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 120 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 120 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $91,200, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $52,310 at the bottom tenth to $117,180 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $67,037 — 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 $74,279 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 $91,200. 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 ($52,310 to $117,180) 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 $67,037 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 $74,279 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.