Veterinarians in District of Columbia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,751
after federal, FICA and District of Columbia tax
Tax takes
$39,779
29.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,512
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
$134,530
Kept after tax
$94,751
Worth in national money
$85,512
State rank
7
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- District of Columbia is one of the better-paying states for veterinarians. The middle earner takes $134,530, which ranks 7 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 3.41% above the national middle.
- Within District of Columbia this is well-paid work. Of 390 occupations with published figures in the state, veterinarians ranks 42 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $134,530, tax leaves $94,751 — and because District of Columbia is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $85,512 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $160,520, since top earners drag the number up.
- District of Columbia ranks 7 of 49 states publishing a median for veterinarians, at $134,530 — about 3.41% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation District of Columbia publishes a median for, veterinarians sits 42 of 390 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $94,751 remains from the District of Columbia median of $134,530 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $85,512 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $160,520 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinarians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $294,160 |
| This salary | $134,530 |
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 | $94,751 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $103,217 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,706 |
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 | $122,143 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$28,963 |
| 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 $134,530. The published range is $69,990 up to $294,160, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In District of Columbia the take-home figure of $94,751, from $134,530, 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 42 of 390 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $85,512, the adjusted value of that $134,530 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of District of Columbia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 42 of 390 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinarians in District of Columbia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,990 to $294,160. 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 $94,751 from $134,530. 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 42 of 390 locally.
- This $85,512 adjusted figure, worked from $134,530, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 42 of 390 in the state. The occupation ranks 42 of 390 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $160,520 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $69,990 and the top tenth $294,160 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $85,512 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, $94,751 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $160,520. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($69,990) and the ninetieth ($294,160) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $85,512 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 $94,751 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.