Protective Service Workers, All Other in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,579
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$21,991
24.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,087
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
$88,570
Kept after tax
$66,579
Worth in national money
$60,087
State rank
2
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 $88,570, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 108.2% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 156 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $88,570, tax leaves $66,579 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $60,087 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $88,990, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for protective service workers, all other is $88,570, about 108.2% above the national figure and 2 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.
- Position 156 of 390 in District of Columbia places protective service workers, all other in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After tax, $66,579 remains from the District of Columbia median of $88,570 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $60,087 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $88,990 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $110,680 |
| This salary | $88,570 |
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 | $66,579 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,139 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,120 |
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 | $82,088 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,123 |
| 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 protective service workers, all other in District of Columbia earn under $88,570 and half over. The published range runs $58,520 at the tenth percentile to $110,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $66,579, from $88,570, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 156 of 390 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,087 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 156.
- Figures are distribution medians for protective service workers, all other in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,520 to $110,680; 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.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $66,579 from $88,570. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 156 of 390 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,087, worked from $88,570, 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 156 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $58,520 at the bottom tenth to $110,680 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 $60,087 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 $66,579 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,520 to $110,680) 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 $60,087 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 $66,579 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.