Washington · BLS May 2025
Also called sales associate, retail worker. SOC 41-2031.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 84,850 retail salespersons working in Washington. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · Washington
$39,560A year, or $19.02 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $35,860 | $17.24 |
| 25th percentile | $37,130 | $17.85 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $39,560 | $19.02 |
| 75th percentile | $45,170 | $21.72 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $54,660 | $26.28 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $43,530 | $20.93 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $39,560 salary in Washington, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in Washington sit at 107 against a national average of 100, so $39,560 earned here buys what $36,967 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for retail salespersons in Washington is $39,560 a year, or $19.02 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.
On the median wage of $39,560, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $33,966 a year, or roughly $2,831 a month.
That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 14.1%.
Washington levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.
Yes. The median in Washington is 11.7% above the national median of $35,410.
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.
It is 0.4 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 $39,560 here buys about what $36,967 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $54,660 a year or more, against $35,860 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, 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.
The survey counted 84,850 of these jobs in Washington for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 5% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources