Jobs and pay in District of Columbia

The highest-paying occupations in District of Columbia

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1 further occupation is paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes it only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: obstetricians and gynecologists. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Neurologists$332,000
2. Emergency medicine physicians$318,200
3. Podiatrists$265,740
4. Family medicine physicians$233,390
5. General internal medicine physicians$223,250
6. Anesthesiologists$202,570
7. Financial examiners$198,720
8. Public relations managers$197,600
9. Computer and information systems managers$195,190
10. Nuclear engineers$195,190
11. Lawyers$195,190
12. Financial managers$188,880
13. Architectural and engineering managers$185,220
14. Human resources managers$184,350
15. Emergency management directors$184,350
16. Psychiatrists$183,080
17. Radiologists$182,450
18. Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers$181,060
19. Marketing managers$177,170
20. Purchasing managers$175,720
21. Managers, all other$175,720
22. Marine engineers and naval architects$172,330
23. General and operations managers$168,000
24. Life scientists, all other$167,640
25. Economists$167,590

Where the jobs actually are in District of Columbia

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Business operations specialists, all other37,790 employed
2. General and operations managers36,150 employed
3. Lawyers33,070 employed
4. Management analysts19,000 employed
5. Managers, all other18,570 employed
6. Computer occupations, all other17,200 employed
7. Public relations specialists16,720 employed
8. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners16,400 employed
9. Security guards15,880 employed
10. Home health and personal care aides12,810 employed
11. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive11,800 employed
12. Waiters and waitresses11,530 employed
13. Registered nurses11,440 employed
14. Accountants and auditors9,810 employed
15. Financial managers8,930 employed
16. Cooks, restaurant7,720 employed
17. Customer service representatives7,550 employed
18. Public relations managers7,410 employed
19. Human resources specialists6,910 employed
20. Paralegals and legal assistants6,400 employed
21. Market research analysts and marketing specialists6,340 employed
22. Software developers6,120 employed
23. Cashiers6,060 employed
24. Bartenders5,760 employed
25. Computer and information systems managers5,690 employed

The best-paid District of Columbia work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Detectives and criminal investigators$160,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Dental hygienists$137,220 · Associate's degree
3. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$134,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$132,180 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$128,710 · Associate's degree
6. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$126,560 · Postsecondary nondegree award
7. Real estate sales agents$123,770 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Surgical assistants$123,390 · Postsecondary nondegree award
9. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$122,570 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Nuclear medicine technologists$116,630 · Associate's degree
11. Printing press operators$116,630 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other$113,640 · Postsecondary nondegree award
13. Diagnostic medical sonographers$112,020 · Associate's degree
14. Respiratory therapists$111,950 · Associate's degree
15. Photographers$110,970 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Production workers, all other$109,470 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Broadcast technicians$108,270 · Associate's degree
18. Print binding and finishing workers$108,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Sound engineering technicians$106,630 · Postsecondary nondegree award
20. Radiologic technologists and technicians$102,770 · Associate's degree
21. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$101,240 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators$101,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters$101,020 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Prepress technicians and workers$100,980 · Postsecondary nondegree award
25. Radiation therapists$100,250 · Associate's degree

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What District of Columbia does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of District of Columbia employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Political scientists lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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