Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Salaries
Local wages against a high BEA price level (RPP 111.1) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA moved from $67,510 in May 2024 to $72,610 in May 2025 (+7.6%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sits +4.5 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.
Sheet Metal Workers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Sheet Metal Workers publishes $109,830 here versus $61,800 nationally (+77.7%; 2,190metro-area jobs). Next is Gambling Dealers at $60,490 locally versus $34,320 nationally (+76.3%).
- Sheet Metal Workers$109,830 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sits 77.7% above the national Sheet Metal Workers median of $61,800 (2,190 published local jobs).
- Gambling Dealers$60,490 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sits 76.3% above the national Gambling Dealers median of $34,320 (2,410 published local jobs).
- Chief Executives$370,000 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sits 72.9% above the national Chief Executives median of $213,990 (2,060 published local jobs).
- Firefighters$101,090 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sits 70.5% above the national Firefighters median of $59,280 (3,760 published local jobs).
Sheet Metal Workers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 42660 · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $91K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-ELEV · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-AHEAD · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #3/528
- RPP-ELEV 111.1
- OCC-MOST 691 occs
- TOP-LEAD Cardiologists · $663K
- EMP-MIX Computer and…
- TREND-AHEAD +4.5 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Washington-Arlin…
- BOOK-FULL 668 rows · May 2025
Read with Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($590 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Largest Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA payrolls before the high-cost adjustment
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 13,170 jobs · $214,680
- 2. Financial Managers 8,500 jobs · $185,550
- 3. Architectural and Engineering Managers 4,390 jobs · $204,340
- 4. Physicians, All Other 3,590 jobs · $330,560
- 5. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers 3,340 jobs · $229,900
- 6. Chief Executives 2,060 jobs · $370,000
- 7. Natural Sciences Managers 1,730 jobs · $203,150
- 8. Computer and Information Research Scientists 1,620 jobs · $211,270
- 9. Anesthesiologists 990 jobs · $646,930
- 10. General Internal Medicine Physicians 850 jobs · $340,010
- 11. Family Medicine Physicians 840 jobs · $306,190
- 12. Nurse Anesthetists 420 jobs · $274,390
- 13. Compensation and Benefits Managers 340 jobs · $216,580
- 14. Surgeons, All Other 250 jobs · $504,360
- 15. Psychiatrists 230 jobs · $307,710
- 16. Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric 180 jobs · $576,130
- 17. Obstetricians and Gynecologists 150 jobs · $343,140
- 18. Physicians, Pathologists 140 jobs · $300,580
Occupations Tracked
691
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$91,333
employment-weighted, 668 complete rows
Top Salary
$662,760
Cardiologists
Cost of Living
111.1
11% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiologists | $662,760 |
| 2 | Anesthesiologists | $646,930 |
| 3 | Dermatologists | $641,210 |
| 4 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $576,130 |
| 5 | Surgeons, All Other | $504,360 |
| 6 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $380,870 |
| 7 | Chief Executives | $370,000 |
| 8 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $343,140 |
| 9 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $340,010 |
| 10 | Neurologists | $331,080 |
| 11 | Physicians, All Other | $330,560 |
| 12 | Psychiatrists | $307,710 |
| 13 | Family Medicine Physicians | $306,190 |
| 14 | Physicians, Pathologists | $300,580 |
| 15 | Nurse Anesthetists | $274,390 |
| 16 | Podiatrists | $232,970 |
| 17 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $232,090 |
| 18 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $229,900 |
| 19 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $216,580 |
| 20 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $214,680 |
| 21 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $211,270 |
| 22 | Medical Dosimetrists | $204,840 |
| 23 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $204,340 |
| 24 | Natural Sciences Managers | $203,150 |
| 25 | Financial Managers | $185,550 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $34,650 |
| Medical Transcriptionists | $36,270 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | $37,620 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $38,430 |
| Occupational Therapy Aides | $38,550 |
| Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers | $38,610 |
| Demonstrators and Product Promoters | $39,110 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $39,150 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $39,240 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $39,330 |
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 ($91,333 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
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
How do published wages sit against Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA's high price level? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA? ▼
Which federal tables feed Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA wage figures in a real decision
- Cardiologists leads published medians in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA at $662,760/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Cardiologists
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $91,333 adjusts to about $82,184 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 111.1. 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.