Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV moved from $68,430 in May 2024 to $71,060 in May 2025 (+3.8%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV sits +0.7 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Legal Support Workers, All Other shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Legal Support Workers, All Other publishes $169,690 here versus $72,110 nationally (+135.3%; 6,430metro-area jobs). Next is Health Education Specialists at $124,590 locally versus $64,070 nationally (+94.5%).
- Legal Support Workers, All Other$169,690 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV sits 135.3% above the national Legal Support Workers, All Other median of $72,110 (6,430 published local jobs).
- Health Education Specialists$124,590 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV sits 94.5% above the national Health Education Specialists median of $64,070 (2,100 published local jobs).
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators$156,750 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV sits 67.1% above the national Detectives and Criminal Investigators median of $93,790 (4,830 published local jobs).
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists$101,020 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV sits 62.4% above the national News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists median of $62,200 (2,390 published local jobs).
Legal Support Workers, All Other and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 47900 · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV $91K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-ELEV · OCC-FULL · TOP-LEAD · EMP-HEAVY · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #4/528
- RPP-ELEV 108.9
- OCC-FULL 704 occs
- TOP-LEAD Radiologists · $443K
- EMP-HEAVY Lawyers
- TREND-INLINE +0.7 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Seattle-Tacoma-B…
- BOOK-FULL 680 rows · May 2025
Read with Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (+$590 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexan…
Employment scale inside Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV's top-pay list
Lawyers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Lawyers 46,840 jobs · $195,190
- 2. Financial Managers 26,430 jobs · $185,270
- 3. Computer and Information Systems Managers 20,800 jobs · $195,190
- 4. Physicians, All Other 10,650 jobs · $208,710
- 5. Public Relations Managers 9,470 jobs · $195,190
- 6. Marketing Managers 8,900 jobs · $181,260
- 7. Sales Managers 8,780 jobs · $175,820
- 8. Human Resources Managers 6,280 jobs · $177,960
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 5,500 jobs · $185,220
- 10. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers 5,100 jobs · $209,750
- 11. Dentists, General 3,040 jobs · $184,540
- 12. Family Medicine Physicians 1,470 jobs · $225,140
- 13. General Internal Medicine Physicians 1,370 jobs · $223,250
- 14. Nuclear Engineers 840 jobs · $180,360
- 15. Psychiatrists 550 jobs · $246,990
- 16. Nurse Anesthetists 440 jobs · $223,150
- 17. Surgeons, All Other 340 jobs · $224,860
- 18. Anesthesiologists 200 jobs · $397,210
Occupations Tracked
704
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$90,743
employment-weighted, 680 complete rows
Top Salary
$443,020
Radiologists
Cost of Living
108.9
9% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiologists | $443,020 |
| 2 | Anesthesiologists | $397,210 |
| 3 | Dermatologists | $329,990 |
| 4 | Cardiologists | $253,610 |
| 5 | Orthodontists | $248,110 |
| 6 | Psychiatrists | $246,990 |
| 7 | Physicians, Pathologists | $237,190 |
| 8 | Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric | $226,640 |
| 9 | Family Medicine Physicians | $225,140 |
| 10 | Surgeons, All Other | $224,860 |
| 11 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $223,250 |
| 12 | Nurse Anesthetists | $223,150 |
| 13 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $209,750 |
| 14 | Physicians, All Other | $208,710 |
| 15 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $207,450 |
| 16 | Public Relations Managers | $195,190 |
| 17 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $195,190 |
| 18 | Lawyers | $195,190 |
| 19 | Financial Managers | $185,270 |
| 20 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $185,220 |
| 21 | Dentists, General | $184,540 |
| 22 | Marketing Managers | $181,260 |
| 23 | Nuclear Engineers | $180,360 |
| 24 | Human Resources Managers | $177,960 |
| 25 | Sales Managers | $175,820 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Gambling Dealers | $31,200 |
| Cooks, All Other | $31,880 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | $34,050 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $34,600 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $34,710 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $34,780 |
| Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners | $35,100 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $35,300 |
| Slaughterers and Meat Packers | $35,380 |
| Cashiers | $35,470 |
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside DC. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($90,743 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.
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Related federal data
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.