Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,356
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$25,554
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,301
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
$97,910
Kept after tax
$72,356
Worth in national money
$65,301
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. District of Columbia's middle earner gets $97,910, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 50.35% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in District of Columbia, this sits in the middle: 132 of 390 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- District of Columbia is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $97,910 the take-home is $72,356; in national-average money that behaves like $65,301. The average lands at $94,970, below the middle of the range.
- For special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, District of Columbia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $97,910, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 50.35% 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.
- Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school ranks 132 of 390 occupations in District of Columbia 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.
- Take-home for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in District of Columbia, on $97,910, is $72,356; deflated by the state's price level, $65,301. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $94,970 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,370 |
| This salary | $97,910 |
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 | $72,356 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,710 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,668 |
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 | $90,300 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,261 |
| 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 special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in District of Columbia earn under $97,910 and half over. The published range runs $65,450 at the tenth percentile to $128,370 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 District of Columbia's $72,356, worked from $97,910. 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 132 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 $65,301, the adjusted value of that $97,910 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 132 of 390 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in District of Columbia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $65,450 to $128,370; 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 District of Columbia take-home of $72,356, on $97,910 for work ranking 132 of 390 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 132 of 390 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $65,301 — the adjusted value of that $97,910 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 132 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $94,970, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $65,450 at the tenth percentile, $128,370 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. District of Columbia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $65,301 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and District of Columbia's own levy, $72,356 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 District of Columbia is $94,970. 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 ($65,450 to $128,370) 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 $65,301 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 $72,356 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.