Of all the touchy questions in life — age, weight, quality of sex life — none may be more taboo than the one that quickly and neatly crystallizes the value of an existence: How much do you make?
Few people like to disclose their paycheck: not the rich, not the poor, not the in-between.
Earn too little, and you're subject to ridicule. Earn too much, and you're subject to even more ridicule. Envy, too.
Yet has there been a time in recent history when a paycheck — any paycheck — seemed more precious than now, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with unemployment edging toward 10 percent.
To commemorate Labor Day, The Washington Post has assembled the earnings of 100 Washingtonians, gathering the information through interviews and public records.
The gallery represents a cross section of official and unofficial Washington, from President Obama to the doorman at the Madison Hotel, from the head of the National Rifle Association to a shoeshine man. There are those who receive their pay in the form of salary and bonuses; there are those who collect theirs in a plastic cup.
Whatever the form of payment, the numbers suggest that it's good to be J.W. Marriott Jr., the CEO of the hotel chain, whose nearly $10 million in compensation last year was the most of anyone in The Post's gallery.
Toward the other end of the spectrum, a 77-year-old Abraham Lincoln impersonator took home a grand total of $9,000.
Then again, money isn't the only measure of a job's worth, no matter what others might think.
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 | Christopher Kardelis(25) $28,675 |  | Matthew Berson(26) $33,750 |
 | J.W. Marriott, Jr.(77) $9,989,268 |  | Jimmy McKennelly(54) $20 a day |
 | Matthew Wallace(22) $9 an hour |  | Wayne R. LaPierre(59) $673,617 |
 | Kevin V. Shubert(44) $60,250 |  | Wilson Livingood(73) $166,774.98 |
 | Lonnie Wade Jr.(56) $38,000 |  | Alexander Ovechkin(23) $9 million |
 | The Rev. Patrick Riffle(27) $22,254 |  | Katie Johnson(27) $75,000 |
 | Barack Obama(48) $400,000 |  | Reggie Love(27) $102,000 |
 | Jim Rubin(77) $9,000 |  | Hector Panozo(40) $50,000 |
 | Jan Chambers(43) $150,000 |  | Wendy R. Mackall(25) $50,868 |
 | Dr. John F. Williams(61) $772,500 |  | Jennifer Mendenhall(49) $18,616 |
 | J. Thomas Manger(54) $216,603 |  | Paul Rhymer(47) $75,000 |
 | Bryan Christopher Hilburn(27) $45,000 |  | Gustavo Torres(48) $83,990 |
 | Stephen Dumaine(36) $125,000 |  | Aja Ishmael(29) $18,580 |
 | Freddy Turim(54) $65,000 |  | Anthony Bowie(51) $40,000 |
 | Christine Jones(38) $63,000 |  | Zack Rosen(26) $36,000 |
 | Sonia Sotomayor(55) $208,100 |  | Laura Auer(25) $21,000 |
 | Paul V. Thompson(55) $100,000 |  | Scott Simon(57) $300,648 |
 | Michael M. Kaiser(55) $1,017,690 |  | Emily Koerner(25) $43,650 |
 | Melissa Manaker(47) $35,870 |  | Ana Rivera(41) $20,600 |
 | Michelle Rhee(39) $275,000 |  | Edwin Zechman(61) $2.1 million |
 | Michael Berman(39) $45,000 |  | Romeo Tchougoue(40) $35,000 |
 | Tensay Desalgn(28) $12,000 |  | Adrian M. Fenty(38) $200,000 |
 | Charles Matthew Klein(41) $35,000 |  | Brooke Kohlhorst(28) $52,549 |
 | Christine Lindstrom(40) $45,000 |  | Michael Kim(39) $130,000 |
 | Steven Rogers(62) $150,000 |  | Alberto R. Gonzales(59) $100,000 |
 | Alberto Gonzales(26) $400,000 |  | Donald E. Graham(64) $811,960 |
 | James Hohmann(22) $44,167.50 |  | Rob Crotty(27) $57,000 |
 | Jon Favreau(27) $172,200 |  | Anthony H. Griffin(62) $240,186.13 |
 | Jack B. Johnson(60) $174,539 |  | Isiah Leggett(65) $171,000 |
 | David Parker(69) $1,053,114 |  | Patricia McGuire(73) $202,000 |
 | Gustavo Carpio(53) $32,000 |  | Josh Wicks(25) $42,000 |
 | Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr.(70) $1,325,000 |  | Joseph C. Alston(38) $98,518 |
 | Michael Subin(60) $72,075 |  | Master Sgt. William L. Browne(42) $52,286.40 |
 | John J. Sweeney(75) $272,250 |  | Jenny Polm(25) $50,000 |
 | Kassandra Lea Rempel(36) $43,000 |  | Thomas J. Donohue(71) $3,157,188 |
 | Desiree Pitts(25) $57,852 |  | Becky Robinson(52) $137,000 |
 | Robert Egger(51) $85,746 |  | Debbie Gunnell(52) $33,500 |
 | Gail Young(65) $150,000 |  | James Webb(63) $174,000 |
 | Steny H. Hoyer(70) $193,400 |  | Paul Strauss(45) $0 |
 | Emanuel Zelaya(31) $80,000 |  | Carol P. Alvarez(41) $41,000 |
 | Jessica Adkins(39) $116,907 |  | Robert Slavin(58) $140,000 |
 | Grover Norquist(52) $205,409 |  | Edward Tyler(46) $35,000 |
 | John J. DeGioia(52) $607,939 |  | Jeanette Higgins(46) $92,500 |
 | Cathy Lanier(42) $207,000 |  | Corina Cornejo(54) $100,000 |
 | John Podesta(60) $283,261 |  | Edwin Meese III(77) $293,500 |
 | N. Strobe Talbot(63) $412,500 |  | Norma Morales(23) $47,000 |
 | Frederick H. Weisberg(65) $174,000 |  | Jerry D. Weast(61) $242,000 |
 | Hillary Rodham Clinton(61) $191,300 |  | Glenn Royall(42) $42,000 |
 | Turner Kittel(17) $150 a day |  | Rodney C. Taylor(46) $127,552 |
 | Steven Carter(25) $49,666 |  | Marion Barry(73) $125,583 |
Credits: Design: Wilson Andrews; Research: Maria Glod, Catherine Cheney, Annie Gowen, Susan Kinzie, Steve Hendrix, Miranda Spivack, Chico Harlan, Amy Gardner, Emma Brown, Donna St. George, Ian Shapira, Michael Ruane, Frederick Kunkle, Del Wilber, James Hohmann, Greg Gaudio, Bill Turque, Christian Davenport, Yamiche Alcindor, Katherine Shaver, Allison Klein, Ruben Castaneda, Matt Zapotosky, Michael Laris, Jonathan Mummolo, Ovetta Wiggins, Nelson Hernandez, Brigid Schulte, Michael Birnbaum, Daniel de Vise, Dan Morse, Rick Rojas, Theola Labbe-DeBose, Henri Cauvin, Martin Ricard, Dagny Salas, Michael S. Rosenwald, Tarik El-Bashir and Tim Craig
