Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,231
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$8,689
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,503
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
$46,920
Kept after tax
$38,231
Worth in national money
$34,503
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. District of Columbia pays this job a middle wage of $46,920, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 27.57% above the national middle.
- Against 390 occupations District of Columbia publishes, this job lands at 338. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $46,920, tax leaves $38,231 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $34,503 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $47,690, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia's median for teaching assistants, except postsecondary is $46,920, about 27.57% 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.
- Within District of Columbia, this work ranks 338 of 390 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After tax, $38,231 remains from the District of Columbia median of $46,920 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $34,503 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $47,690 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,100 |
| This salary | $46,920 |
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 | $38,231 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,880 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,536 |
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 | $44,867 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,905 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 111 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in District of Columbia earn less than $46,920. The published range is $38,370 up to $58,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $38,231, from $46,920, 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 338 of 390 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of District of Columbia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,503, the adjusted value of that $46,920 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 338 of 390 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,370 to $58,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for District of Columbia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,231 from $46,920. 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 338 of 390 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for District of Columbia, so $34,503 — the adjusted value of that $46,920 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 338 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,370 at the bottom tenth to $58,100 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $34,503 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and District of Columbia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,231 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,370 to $58,100) 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 $34,503 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 $38,231 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.