Highest Paying Jobs in District of Columbia

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary — Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$332,000

Neurologists

Top 25 Average

$202,024

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in District of Columbia by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Neurologists pays a state median of $332,000, +34% above the national median of $248,560 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in District of Columbia — a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $236,185, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 87 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in District of Columbia, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news — they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where District of Columbia is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime — especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in District of Columbia, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Neurologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$332,000	$248,560	+34% above	50
2	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$318,200	$335,550	5% below	120
3	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$265,740	$160,300	+66% above	N/A
4	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$233,390	$244,180	4% below	150
5	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$223,250	$256,560	13% below	490
6	Anesthesiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$202,570	$391,490	48% below	100
7	Financial Examiners Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$198,720	$94,160	+111% above	470
8	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$197,600	$146,910	+35% above	7,410
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$195,190	$175,140	+11% above	5,690
10	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$195,190	$133,970	+46% above	230
11	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$195,190	$159,670	+22% above	33,070
12	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$188,880	$166,570	+13% above	8,930
13	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$185,220	$171,270	+8% above	1,290
14	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$184,350	$149,280	+23% above	2,250
15	Emergency Management Directors Management Occupations	$184,350	$93,330	+98% above	150
16	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$183,080	$281,870	35% below	310
17	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$182,450	$420,860	57% below	80
18	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$181,060	$117,860	+54% above	300
19	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$177,170	$166,790	+6% above	3,470
20	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$175,720	$148,080	+19% above	1,110
21	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$175,720	$141,900	+24% above	18,570
22	Marine Engineers and Naval Architects Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$172,330	$112,230	+54% above	490
23	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$168,000	$105,770	+59% above	36,150
24	Life Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$167,640	$93,750	+79% above	50
25	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$167,590	$124,720	+34% above	3,000
26	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$167,520	$107,310	+56% above	1,460
27	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$166,230	$130,000	+28% above	160
28	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$163,360	$161,740	+1% above	210
29	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$161,860	$123,920	+31% above	220
30	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$160,990	$149,230	+8% above	130
31	Detectives and Criminal Investigators Protective Service Occupations	$160,760	$93,790	+71% above	2,980
32	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$157,600	$134,960	+17% above	290
33	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$157,040	$130,220	+21% above	400
34	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$157,040	$172,250	9% below	480
35	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$156,730	$167,220	6% below	1,540
36	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$156,730	$122,570	+28% above	790
37	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$156,590	$116,580	+34% above	17,200
38	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$155,140	$123,860	+25% above	2,010
39	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$153,400	$140,910	+9% above	850
40	Political Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$152,530	$142,080	+7% above	3,070
41	Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$151,990	$115,210	+32% above	490
42	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$151,920	$122,930	+24% above	3,560
43	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$150,010	$139,500	+8% above	790
44	Chemists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$149,860	$91,240	+64% above	280
45	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$144,190	$140,300	+3% above	330
46	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$143,040	$133,660	+7% above	80
47	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$143,000	$120,630	+19% above	330
48	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$141,800	$148,270	4% below	1,930
49	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$141,720	$125,470	+13% above	800
50	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$141,710	$133,000	+7% above	210
51	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$140,670	$95,200	+48% above	740
52	Statisticians Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$140,670	$105,650	+33% above	550
53	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$137,670	$134,050	+3% above	1,490
54	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$137,600	$117,790	+17% above	N/A
55	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$137,470	$105,870	+30% above	1,930
56	Dental Hygienists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$137,220	$98,100	+40% above	320
57	Urban and Regional Planners Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$137,000	$89,320	+53% above	120
58	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$136,880	$135,980	+1% above	6,120
59	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,880	$132,300	+3% above	680
60	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,140	$135,880	1% below	470
61	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$135,090	$129,180	+5% above	1,510
62	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,840	$136,570	1% below	50
63	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$134,760	$106,040	+27% above	1,230
64	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,530	$130,100	+3% above	190
65	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$134,090	$128,500	+4% above	670
66	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$133,300	$104,110	+28% above	510
67	Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$132,620	$82,220	+61% above	1,270
68	Credit Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$132,590	$83,510	+59% above	50
69	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$132,180	$107,230	+23% above	610
70	Writers and Authors Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$129,300	$76,910	+68% above	1,050
71	Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$128,710	$95,480	+35% above	150
72	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$128,610	$114,130	+13% above	1,030
73	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$128,440	$101,110	+27% above	2,480
74	Business Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$128,370	$99,080	+30% above	630
75	Therapists, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$127,010	$77,930	+63% above	80
76	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers Protective Service Occupations	$126,560	$93,530	+35% above	380
77	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$126,490	$120,230	+5% above	2,680
78	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$126,430	$114,990	+10% above	1,250
79	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$126,140	$101,860	+24% above	19,000
80	Financial Specialists, All Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$125,110	$81,100	+54% above	2,460
81	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$125,110	$110,840	+13% above	230
82	Budget Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$124,590	$91,640	+36% above	1,490
83	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$124,420	$126,060	1% below	50
84	Buyers and Purchasing Agents Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$124,090	$77,710	+60% above	1,880
85	Real Estate Sales Agents Sales and Related Occupations	$123,770	$52,830	+134% above	590
86	Surgical Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$123,390	$66,800	+85% above	90
87	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$122,570	$109,910	+12% above	N/A
88	Biochemists and Biophysicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$120,090	$127,410	6% below	70
89	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$118,540	$104,620	+13% above	560
90	Historians Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$118,290	$76,750	+54% above	250
91	Technical Writers Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$117,810	$90,390	+30% above	440
92	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$116,820	$105,850	+10% above	2,480
93	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$116,630	$101,370	+15% above	30
94	Printing Press Operators Production Occupations	$116,630	$45,780	+155% above	350
95	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$115,770	$106,660	+9% above	930
96	Labor Relations Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$115,600	$95,420	+21% above	160
97	Web Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$114,690	$92,650	+24% above	430
98	Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling Management Occupations	$113,930	$79,520	+43% above	30
99	Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$113,640	$65,790	+73% above	130
100	Epidemiologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$112,370	$87,220	+29% above	90

More ways to explore District of Columbia pay and compare with national data.

District of Columbia Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in District of Columbia

Top 50 by growth rate

National Rankings

Highest paying jobs nationwide

Neurologists

National profile & state breakdown

All 50 States

Compare across states

Compare Neurologists side-by-side with another occupation →

About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in District of Columbia. The "Difference" column shows how District of Columbia pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Reviewed byWageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · June 4, 2026

Nearby & Related Pages

About This Data