Retail Salespersons in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,966
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$5,594
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,288
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
$39,560
Kept after tax
$33,966
Worth in national money
$31,288
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for retail salespersons. The middle earner takes $39,560, which ranks 1 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 11.72% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Washington, this one sits low: 480 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $39,560 the take-home is $33,966. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $31,288 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $43,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington ranks 1 of 51 states publishing a median for retail salespersons, at $39,560 — about 11.72% 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.
- Retail salespersons occupies position 480 of 493 in Washington's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $33,966 for retail salespersons, from $39,560. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,288. ⚠️ 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 $43,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,660 |
| This salary | $39,560 |
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 | $33,966 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,966 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,666 |
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 | $39,560 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,434 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 retail salespersons in Washington earn under $39,560 and half over. The published range runs $35,860 at the tenth percentile to $54,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $33,966, from $39,560, 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 480 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,288, the adjusted value of that $39,560 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 480 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,860 to $54,660; 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 Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,966 from $39,560. 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 480 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $31,288 — the adjusted value of that $39,560 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 480 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 $43,530, 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 $35,860 and the top tenth $54,660, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $31,288 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $33,966 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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.
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 $43,530. 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 ($35,860 to $54,660) 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 $31,288 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 $33,966 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.