Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,245
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$9,085
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,440
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
$57,330
Kept after tax
$48,245
Worth in national money
$44,440
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $57,330, putting the state 3 of 51 — about 20.59% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 344.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $57,330 the take-home is $48,245. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $44,440 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $58,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $57,330, ranking 3 of 51 and running about 20.59% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive sits at 344 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $48,245 for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, from $57,330. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,440. ⚠️ 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 $58,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,750 |
| This salary | $57,330 |
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 | $48,245 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,245 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,207 |
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 | $57,330 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,298 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,330 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,250 and the ninetieth is $74,750 — 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 Washington's $48,245, worked from $57,330. 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 344 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,440 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 344.
- The Washington median of $57,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,250 to $74,750. 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 Washington take-home of $48,245, on $57,330 for work ranking 344 of 493 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 344 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,440, worked from $57,330, 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 344 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,250 and the top tenth $74,750, 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 $44,440 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $48,245 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 ($43,250 to $74,750) 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 $44,440 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 $48,245 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.