Private Detectives and Investigators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,668
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$10,412
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,436
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$64,080
Kept after tax
$53,668
Worth in national money
$49,436
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $64,080, which ranks 6 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 25.11% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 277 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $64,080 the take-home is $53,668. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,436 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $71,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 6 of 49 states publishing a median for private detectives and investigators, at $64,080 — about 25.11% 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.
- Private detectives and investigators ranks 277 of 493 occupations in Washington 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 Washington income tax is $53,668 for private detectives and investigators, from $64,080. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,436. ⚠️ 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 $71,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,220 |
| This salary | $64,080 |
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 Washington | $53,668 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,793 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $64,080 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,006 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 private detectives and investigators in Washington earn under $64,080 and half over. The published range runs $43,060 at the tenth percentile to $104,220 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $53,668 take-home in Washington comes from $64,080. 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 277 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,436 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 277.
- Figures are distribution medians for private detectives and investigators in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,060 to $104,220; 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.
- Retained pay of $53,668, from $64,080, assumes a single Washington 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 277 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,436, worked from $64,080, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 277 of 493 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 $71,020 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 $43,060, the highest tenth $104,220, 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 Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $49,436 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $53,668 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Washington is $71,020. 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 ($43,060) and the ninetieth ($104,220) 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?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $49,436 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $53,668 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.