Average Salary in District of Columbia

Wages, household income and cost-of-living context for District of Columbia. All figures from federal releases, vintage 2024.

What the numbers say

The mean of $109,420 is $21,420 (24.3 %) above the median of $88,000, reflecting a right-skewed wage distribution pulled up by high earners.

Prices in District of Columbia are about 9.9 % above the national average (RPP 109.9, where US = 100). After the adjustment, every dollar earned in District of Columbia buys what $99,563 would buy at national average prices.

Median household income in District of Columbia is $109,707 (Census ACS 2024). That figure counts all income to all people in a household — two-earner couples, Social Security, self-employment earnings — and is not directly comparable to the per-worker wage figures above.

Pay for common occupations in District of Columbia

Annual mean wage, cross-industry. Blank rows indicate BLS suppression for this state/occupation cell.

Occupation SOC Mean wage
Lawyer23-1011$236,700
Marketing Manager11-2021$183,460
Data Scientist15-2051$148,170
Software Developer15-1252$143,810
Pharmacist29-1051$136,920
Mechanical Engineer17-2141$136,300
Dental Hygienist29-1292$130,850
Financial and Investment Analyst13-2051$128,960

Browse all 20 occupation pages →

Compare with other states