Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,150
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$12,800
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,406
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
$72,950
Kept after tax
$60,150
Worth in national money
$55,406
State rank
6
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 $72,950, ranking 6 of 51 states and sitting about 21.44% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 246 among 493 occupations Washington publishes pay for.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $72,950 the take-home is $60,150; in national-average money that behaves like $55,406. The average comes to $73,800, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington's median for security and fire alarm systems installers is $72,950, about 21.44% above the national figure and 6 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.
- Position 246 of 493 in Washington places security and fire alarm systems installers 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 security and fire alarm systems installers in Washington, on $72,950, is $60,150; deflated by the state's price level, $55,406. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $73,800 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,350 |
| This salary | $72,950 |
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 | $60,150 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,150 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,493 |
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 | $72,950 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,655 |
| 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 security and fire alarm systems installers in Washington earn under $72,950 and half over. The published range runs $48,050 at the tenth percentile to $99,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $60,150, worked from $72,950. 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 246 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,406, the adjusted value of that $72,950 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 246 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for security and fire alarm systems installers in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,050 to $99,350; 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.
- The Washington take-home of $60,150, on $72,950 for work ranking 246 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 246 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $55,406 — the adjusted value of that $72,950 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 246 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,050 at the tenth percentile, $99,350 at the ninetieth.
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 $55,406 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $60,150 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,050 to $99,350) 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 $55,406 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 $60,150 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.