Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,422
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$26,828
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,165
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
$101,250
Kept after tax
$74,422
Worth in national money
$67,165
State rank
4
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $101,250, which ranks 4 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 26.03% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 117 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $101,250 the take-home is $74,422; in national-average money that behaves like $67,165. The average comes to $103,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- District of Columbia ranks 4 of 50 states publishing a median for psychology teachers, postsecondary, at $101,250 — about 26.03% 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.
- Position 117 of 390 in District of Columbia places psychology teachers, postsecondary 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.
- Take-home for psychology teachers, postsecondary in District of Columbia, on $101,250, is $74,422; deflated by the state's price level, $67,165. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $103,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $159,910 |
| This salary | $101,250 |
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 | $74,422 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,059 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,222 |
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 | $93,236 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,026 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $101,250 as a midpoint for District of Columbia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,560 and the ninetieth is $159,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind District of Columbia's $74,422, worked from $101,250. 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 117 of 390.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,165 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 117.
- The District of Columbia median of $101,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,560 to $159,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The District of Columbia take-home of $74,422, on $101,250 for work ranking 117 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 117 of 390 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,165, worked from $101,250, 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 117 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 $62,560 and the top tenth $159,910 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $67,165 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and District of Columbia's own levy, $74,422 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 ($62,560) and the ninetieth ($159,910) 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 $67,165 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 $74,422 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.