District of Columbia · BLS May 2025

How much does a teaching assistant make in District of Columbia?

Also called teacher aide, paraprofessional. BLS records this occupation as Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary” (SOC 25-9045).

A teaching assistant in District of Columbia earns a median of $46,920 a year, about $3,180 a month after federal, state and FICA tax. Figure from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The survey counted 3,950 of these jobs in District of Columbia in May 2025.

Median pay · District of Columbia

$46,920A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.
Take-home a month$3,180After federal, state and FICA tax at 18.7%
Worth at national prices$42,693Prices here sit at 109.9 against 100
Against the nation27.6% aboveNational median $36,780
What teaching assistants earn in District of Columbia, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentile1 in 10 earn less$38,370Not published
25th percentile$40,080Not published
MedianHalf earn more, half less$46,920Not published
75th percentile$49,330Not published
90th percentile1 in 10 earn more$58,100Not published
MeanAll pay divided by all jobs$47,690Not published

Wage survey · BLS May 2025

How we got this
  1. Median wage in District of ColumbiaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$46,920
  2. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$3,180 a month at an effective rate of 18.7%.$38,165 a year
  3. Worth at national average pricesPrices in District of Columbia sit at 109.9 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$42,693
  4. Against the national medianThe national median is $36,780.27.6% above
  5. Jobs countedA concentration of 0.62 against the nation's 1.00.3,950
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.
  • BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
  • 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 · Interactive

Estimated on the median salary of $46,920 in District of Columbia, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.

$46,920
$35,000$60,000
Filing status:
Gross salary breakdown$46,920
Net 81%
Fed 7%
DC 4%
FICA 8%
Annual take-home$38,165After all taxes
Monthly deposit$3,180Estimated per month
Biweekly paycheck$1,468Every 2 weeks (26/yr)
Effective tax rate18.7%Total tax burden
Federal income tax$3,450 / yr
District of Columbia state income tax$1,715 / yr
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)$3,589 / yr

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 $46,920 is worth in District of Columbia

Prices in District of Columbia sit at 109.9 against a national average of 100, so $46,920 earned here buys what $42,693 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 155 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in District of Columbia takes in $109,870, so this occupation's median is 0.43 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 38% less concentrated in District of Columbia than in the country as a whole.

Compare two places properly →

Reading the numbers

What stands out for teaching assistants in District of Columbia

District of Columbia ranks 2 of 51 states by median pay for teaching assistants, among the best-paying in the country.

Rents in District of Columbia index at 155 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 109.9, a gap of +45.1 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.

Prices in District of Columbia index at 109.9 (U.S. = 100), so the $46,920 median buys roughly what $42,693 would at national prices, $4,227 less.

The top of the pay range is stretched out. Going from the 75th to the 90th percentile adds $8,770, against $2,410 from the median to the 75th. The best-paid 10% of teaching assistants in District of Columbia make $58,100 or more.

Common questions

Teaching Assistant pay in District of Columbia, answered

How much does a teaching assistant make in District of Columbia?

The median wage for teaching assistants in District of Columbia is $46,920 a year.

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 teaching assistant salary in District of Columbia?

BLS’s mean (average) wage for teaching assistants in District of Columbia is $47,690 a year. The median is $46,920.

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 starting salary for a teaching assistant in District of Columbia?

BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in District of Columbia, the lowest-paid 10% of teaching assistants earn under $38,370 a year and a quarter earn under $40,080.

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 teaching assistant in District of Columbia?

The overall salary range for teaching assistants in District of Columbia spans from $38,370 for the bottom 10% to $58,100 for top earners.

The middle 50% earn between $40,080 and $49,330 a year, with the overall median at $46,920.

What is the take-home pay for a teaching assistant in District of Columbia?

On the median wage of $46,920, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $38,165 a year, or roughly $3,180 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 18.7%.

District of Columbia takes $1,715 of it in state income tax.

How much does a teaching assistant make a month in District of Columbia?

On the median annual salary of $46,920, estimated take-home pay is roughly $3,180 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 $1,468 net.

Do teaching assistants earn more in District of Columbia than in the rest of the country?

Yes. The median in District of Columbia is 27.6% above the national median of $36,780.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in District of Columbia sit at 109.9 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $46,920 a good salary in District of Columbia?

It is 0.43 times the median household income of $109,870. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in District of Columbia run at 109.9 against a national average of 100, with rents at 155, so $46,920 here buys about what $42,693 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid teaching assistants earn in District of Columbia?

The top tenth earn $58,100 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $38,370.

Experience, specialty, employer and the part of District of Columbia someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many teaching assistants are there in District of Columbia?

The survey counted 3,950 of these jobs in District of Columbia for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 38% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from

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