Bellingham, WA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Bellingham, WA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Bellingham, WA moved from $54,860 in May 2024 to $57,820 in May 2025 (+5.4%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Bellingham, WA sits +2.3 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Bellingham, WA
Home Health and Personal Care Aides publishes $44,080 here versus $35,800 nationally (+23.1%; 2,350metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $37,030 locally versus $31,200 nationally (+18.7%).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$44,080 in Bellingham, WA sits 23.1% above the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (2,350 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$37,030 in Bellingham, WA sits 18.7% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,830 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$37,250 in Bellingham, WA sits 13.3% above the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (2,190 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$37,840 in Bellingham, WA sits 6.9% above the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,830 published local jobs).
Home Health and Personal Care Aides and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Bellingham, WA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 13380 · Bellingham, WA $69K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-AHEAD · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #53/528
- RPP-MID 103.3
- OCC-MID 321 occs
- TOP-LEAD Chief Executives · $237K
- EMP-MIX Software Dev…
- TREND-AHEAD +2.3 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Phoenix-Mesa-Cha…
- BOOK-FULL 320 rows · May 2025
Read with Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ ($99 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Bellingham, WA
Employment scale inside Bellingham, WA's top-pay list
Software Developers and Managers, All Other lead published employment inside Bellingham, WA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Software Developers 640 jobs · $128,250
- 2. Managers, All Other 370 jobs · $140,910
- 3. Financial Managers 250 jobs · $158,960
- 4. Sales Managers 230 jobs · $133,220
- 5. Construction Managers 210 jobs · $156,580
- 6. Computer and Information Systems Managers 190 jobs · $169,640
- 7. Lawyers 190 jobs · $131,480
- 8. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 180 jobs · $169,470
- 9. Nurse Practitioners 150 jobs · $147,890
- 10. Pharmacists 140 jobs · $156,490
- 11. First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers 130 jobs · $137,720
- 12. Physician Assistants 120 jobs · $161,260
- 13. Industrial Production Managers 110 jobs · $150,800
- 14. Marketing Managers 110 jobs · $143,450
- 15. Physicians, All Other 100 jobs · $150,920
- 16. Dentists, General 90 jobs · $168,030
- 17. First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 90 jobs · $132,730
- 18. Architectural and Engineering Managers 80 jobs · $193,360
Occupations Tracked
321
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$69,158
employment-weighted, 320 complete rows
Top Salary
$236,930
Chief Executives
Cost of Living
103.3
3% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Bellingham, WA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Executives | $236,930 |
| 2 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $193,360 |
| 3 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $169,640 |
| 4 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $169,470 |
| 5 | Dentists, General | $168,030 |
| 6 | Physician Assistants | $161,260 |
| 7 | Financial Managers | $158,960 |
| 8 | Construction Managers | $156,580 |
| 9 | Pharmacists | $156,490 |
| 10 | Physicians, All Other | $150,920 |
| 11 | Industrial Production Managers | $150,800 |
| 12 | Veterinarians | $149,760 |
| 13 | Nurse Practitioners | $147,890 |
| 14 | Marketing Managers | $143,450 |
| 15 | Managers, All Other | $140,910 |
| 16 | Engineers, All Other | $140,220 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $137,920 |
| 18 | First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers | $137,720 |
| 19 | Natural Sciences Managers | $134,220 |
| 20 | Sales Managers | $133,220 |
| 21 | Facilities Managers | $132,870 |
| 22 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $132,730 |
| 23 | Lawyers | $131,480 |
| 24 | Public Relations Managers | $128,370 |
| 25 | Software Developers | $128,250 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Bellingham, WA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $35,510 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $35,970 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $36,070 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $36,180 |
| Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | $36,450 |
| Demonstrators and Product Promoters | $36,780 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $37,030 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $37,110 |
| Cashiers | $37,250 |
| Gambling Dealers | $37,410 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in WA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside WA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($69,158 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Bellingham, WA? ▼
Which published medians lead Bellingham, WA? ▼
What is the cost of living in Bellingham, WA? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Bellingham, WA come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Bellingham, WA wage figures in a real decision
- Chief Executives leads published medians in Bellingham, WA at $236,930/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Chief Executives
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $69,158 adjusts to about $66,927 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 103.3. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for WA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.