Psychiatrists in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$123,808
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$59,272
32.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$111,736
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
$183,080
Kept after tax
$123,808
Worth in national money
$111,736
State rank
41
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is among the lower-paying states for psychiatrists. The middle earner takes $183,080, ranking 41 of 46 states — about 35.05% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, psychiatrists ranks 10 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $183,080, tax leaves $123,808 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $111,736 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $181,090.
- District of Columbia ranks 41 of 46 for psychiatrists, with a median of $183,080 — about 35.05% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Ranked against every occupation District of Columbia publishes a median for, psychiatrists sits 10 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, $123,808 remains from the District of Columbia median of $183,080 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $111,736 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $181,090 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychiatrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $183,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $304,250 |
| This salary | $183,080 |
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 District of Columbia | $123,808 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $136,401 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$28,631 |
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 | $164,655 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$40,705 |
| 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 $183,080. The published range is $45,150 up to $304,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $123,808 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $183,080. 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 10 of 390.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $111,736, the adjusted value of that $183,080 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 10 of 390 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for psychiatrists in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,150 to $304,250. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $123,808, from $183,080, 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 10 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $111,736 — the adjusted value of that $183,080 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 10 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,150 and the top tenth $304,250 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $111,736 of national purchasing power.
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 $123,808 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,150) and the ninetieth ($304,250) 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 $111,736 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 $123,808 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.