Public Safety Telecommunicators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,301
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$14,549
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,230
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
$78,850
Kept after tax
$64,301
Worth in national money
$59,230
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays this job a middle wage of $78,850, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 48.66% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Washington, this sits in the middle: 206 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 $78,850 the take-home is $64,301. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $59,230 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $76,460, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Washington's median for public safety telecommunicators is $78,850, about 48.66% 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.
- Public safety telecommunicators ranks 206 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 $64,301 for public safety telecommunicators, from $78,850. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $59,230. ⚠️ 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 $76,460 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,130 |
| This salary | $78,850 |
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 | $64,301 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,301 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,941 |
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 | $78,850 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,587 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $78,850. The published range is $56,920 up to $96,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $64,301 take-home in Washington comes from $78,850. 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 206 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,230 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 206.
- Reported values are medians; for public safety telecommunicators in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,920 to $96,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $64,301, from $78,850, 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 206 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,230, worked from $78,850, 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 206 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $76,460, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $56,920 and the top tenth $96,130, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $59,230 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $64,301 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $76,460. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($56,920 to $96,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
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 $59,230 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 $64,301 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.
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.