Median pay · Washington
$45,660A year, or $22 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $38,080 | $18 |
| 25th percentile | $42,800 | $21 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $45,660 | $22 |
| 75th percentile | $48,490 | $23 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $60,130 | $29 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $48,140 | $23 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in WashingtonBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$45,660
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$21.95
- Take-home after federal and FICA tax$3,239 a month at an effective rate of 14.9%.$38,868 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Washington sit at 107 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$42,668
- Against the national medianThe national median is $38,140.19.7% above
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.21 against the nation's 1.00.13,210
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $45,660 in Washington, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $45,660 is worth in Washington
Prices in Washington sit at 107 against a national average of 100, so $45,660 earned here buys what $42,668 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 126 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Washington takes in $98,141, so this occupation's median is 0.47 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 21% more concentrated in Washington than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for preschool teachers in Washington
Washington does not tax wages, so the take-home figure above loses only federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare.
Rents in Washington index at 126 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 107, a gap of +19 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
The top of the pay range is stretched out. Going from the 75th to the 90th percentile adds $11,640, against $2,830 from the median to the 75th. The best-paid 10% of preschool teachers in Washington make $60,130 or more.
The median for this job is 0.5 times the median household income in Washington ($98,141). Many households have two earners, so one paycheck at this level falls short of what a typical local household brings in.
Common questions
Preschool Teacher pay in Washington, answered
How much does a preschool teacher make in Washington?
The median wage for preschool teachers in Washington is $45,660 a year, or $21.95 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average preschool teacher salary in Washington?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for preschool teachers in Washington is $48,140 a year. The median is $45,660.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for a preschool teacher in Washington?
The median hourly wage is $21.95. At a full-time year that lines up with about $45,660 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for a preschool teacher in Washington?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Washington, the lowest-paid 10% of preschool teachers earn under $38,080 a year and a quarter earn under $42,800 ($18.31 and $20.58 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a preschool teacher in Washington?
The overall salary range for preschool teachers in Washington spans from $38,080 for the bottom 10% to $60,130 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $42,800 and $48,490 a year, with the overall median at $45,660.
What is the take-home pay for a preschool teacher in Washington?
On the median wage of $45,660, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $38,868 a year, or roughly $3,239 a month.
That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 14.9%.
Washington levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.
How much does a preschool teacher make a month in Washington?
On the median annual salary of $45,660, estimated take-home pay is roughly $3,239 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $1,495 net.
Do preschool teachers earn more in Washington than in the rest of the country?
Yes. The median in Washington is 19.7% above the national median of $38,140.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Washington sit at 107 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $45,660 a good salary in Washington?
It is 0.47 times the median household income of $98,141. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Washington run at 107 against a national average of 100, with rents at 126, so $45,660 here buys about what $42,668 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid preschool teachers earn in Washington?
The top tenth earn $60,130 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $38,080.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Washington someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many preschool teachers are there in Washington?
The survey counted 13,210 of these jobs in Washington for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 21% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.