Public Safety Telecommunicators in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,257
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$11,823
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,649
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
$59,080
Kept after tax
$47,257
Worth in national money
$42,649
State rank
16
of 51 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 $59,080, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 11.39% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 292 among 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $59,080, tax leaves $47,257 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $42,649 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $58,870.
- District of Columbia ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for public safety telecommunicators, at $59,080 — about 11.39% 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 292 of 390 in District of Columbia places public safety telecommunicators 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, $47,257 remains from the District of Columbia median of $59,080 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $42,649 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $58,870 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,540 |
| This salary | $59,080 |
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 | $47,257 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,651 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,445 |
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 | $56,101 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,213 |
| 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 public safety telecommunicators in District of Columbia earn under $59,080 and half over. The published range runs $44,480 at the tenth percentile to $67,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,257 take-home in District of Columbia comes from $59,080. 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 292 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 $42,649, the adjusted value of that $59,080 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 292 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for public safety telecommunicators in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,480 to $67,540; 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 $47,257, from $59,080, 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 292 of 390 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $42,649 — the adjusted value of that $59,080 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 292 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,480 at the bottom tenth to $67,540 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,649 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; District of Columbia then takes its own share, leaving $47,257.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,480 to $67,540) 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 $42,649 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 $47,257 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.