Average salary in Washington, DC: $111,010 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in Washington, DC, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in Washington, DC is $111,010 a year ($53.37 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 701,920 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $91,540 ($44.01 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How Washington, DC compares with the United States
Washington, DC's mean salary is $41,240 (59.1%) above the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $40,560 (79.6%) above the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, Washington, DC ranks 1st by mean salary and 1st by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | Washington, DC | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $111,010 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $91,540 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $53.37 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $44.01 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 701,920 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for Washington, DC in 2024 is 109.9, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 9.9% above the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in Washington, DC pay, from low to high
One job in ten in Washington, DC paid less than $39,650 a year, and one in ten paid more than $195,190. A quarter paid less than $55,460; a quarter paid more than $144,680.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC | $39,650 | $55,460 | $91,540 | $144,680 | $195,190 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in Washington, DC
The largest group in Washington, DC is business and financial operations, with 110,570 jobs (16% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is legal ($195,190); the lowest-paid is building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($39,430). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and Financial Operations | 110,570 | $109,990 | $118,330 |
| Management | 105,590 | $169,990 | $180,640 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 56,970 | $44,390 | $49,980 |
| Office and Administrative Support | 53,960 | $60,660 | $65,510 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 43,050 | $133,010 | $137,440 |
| Legal | 41,700 | $195,190 | $213,270 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 33,970 | $101,750 | $116,520 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 32,790 | $79,890 | $90,400 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 29,790 | $100,400 | $114,690 |
| Protective Service | 29,670 | $73,950 | $80,700 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 22,640 | $39,430 | $42,980 |
| Healthcare Support | 20,950 | $43,060 | $46,830 |
| Sales and Related | 20,510 | $46,870 | $65,100 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 18,490 | $49,460 | $58,720 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 17,790 | $128,610 | $134,080 |
| Construction and Extraction | 12,770 | $70,110 | $74,160 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 11,790 | $125,650 | $130,620 |
| Personal Care and Service | 11,720 | $40,350 | $49,440 |
| Community and Social Service | 11,360 | $69,130 | $77,050 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 10,740 | $72,000 | $72,750 |
| Production | 4,990 | $59,750 | $69,900 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 120 | $70,990 | $65,360 |
The occupations with the most jobs in Washington, DC
5 of the 12 largest occupations in Washington, DC with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $91,540 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Business Operations Specialists, All Other | 37,790 | $108,160 |
| General and Operations Managers | 36,150 | $168,000 |
| Lawyers | 33,070 | $195,190 |
| Management Analysts | 19,000 | $126,140 |
| Managers, All Other | 18,570 | $175,720 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 17,200 | $156,590 |
| Public Relations Specialists | 16,720 | $102,740 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 16,400 | $38,520 |
| Security Guards | 15,880 | $64,210 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 12,810 | $42,700 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 11,800 | $59,910 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | 11,530 | $47,850 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorWashington, DC minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in Washington, DCWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsWashington, DC unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
Open →CalculatorSalary to hourly calculatorConvert any salary or hourly rate.
Open →NegotiateSalary negotiationAsk for the top of the range.
Open →All statesAverage salary by stateEvery state on one page.
Open →Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest when we mention it. Everything on this page is free to use without buying anything.
Questions people ask
What is the average salary in Washington, DC?
What is the median salary in Washington, DC?
What is a good salary in Washington, DC?
Does the average salary include self-employed people?
How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in Washington, DC (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).