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Jobs in Washington, DC: pay, hiring and remote work
In Washington, 67.8% of the 2,657 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $165,000 a year. 11% are remote, 7.9% are entry level, and 40% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $156,500 posted salary in the Washington area buys about what $143,500 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 9% above the national average.
- Housing costs run 51% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- After adjusting for local prices, the typical worker's official median wage ($71,000) is worth $65,500 in average-US dollars, 4th of 99 metro areas.
- 61.2% of open job postings list a pay range, 7th of 99 metro areas.
- 8.5% of postings are entry-level, 91st of 99 metro areas.
DC requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2024).
Washington is part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 3.8% in 2026-08 (4.2% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across District of Columbia, employers had 34,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 4.5% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 17.2% below its February 2020 level and 7% higher than a year ago (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2026-10-02).
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $204,000 135 postings | software developers | $155,000 |
| People and recruiting | $170,000 19 postings | human resources specialists | $101,000 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area. Posted pay is the middle of the ranges in open postings, so the two measure different things: pay for open jobs versus pay for everyone already employed.
Posted pay by kind of job in Washington
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and clinical care | $257,500 | 22 |
| Software developers | $204,000 | 135 |
| Legal and compliance | $201,000 | 65 |
| Security and IT | $191,500 | 79 |
| Sales | $183,500 | 152 |
| Data scientists | $180,000 | 10 |
| People and recruiting | $170,000 | 19 |
| Product and design | $166,500 | 35 |
| Finance and accounting | $161,000 | 38 |
| Software engineering | $156,000 | 108 |
| Marketing | $154,000 | 62 |
| Customer support and success | $144,500 | 30 |
| Data and analytics | $135,500 | 22 |
| Operations and logistics | $131,000 | 74 |
Kinds of job are grouped by title wording. Pay is the midpoint of the range in the posting, annualized for hourly postings.
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Software & Technology | 867 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 585 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 230 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 192 |
| Other | 166 |
| Energy & Utilities | 115 |
| Financial Services | 104 |
| Government & Nonprofit | 92 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 81 |
| Media & Entertainment | 76 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 67 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 53 |
| Education | 20 |
Employers with the most openings
- Accenturefederalservices: 234 postings
- Andurilindustries: 174 postings
- Shieldai: 73 postings
- Anthropic: 64 postings
- DoorDash USA: 63 postings
What applications ask in Washington
Among 715 application forms we read: 22.8% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 79.4% ask about visa sponsorship, 74.5% include the equal-opportunity section, and 2.9% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV area run 9% above the national average, and housing runs 51% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $71,000, which is worth $65,500 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $156,500 is worth $143,500.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 61.2% | $156,500 | $71,000 | 108.9 | $65,500 |
| Houston | 17.5% | $127,500 | $49,500 | 98.6 | $50,000 |
| Philadelphia | 28.4% | $111,500 | $54,500 | 102.6 | $53,000 |
| Atlanta | 25.9% | $134,500 | $51,000 | 100.1 | $51,000 |
| Miami | 21.2% | $115,000 | $48,500 | 114.2 | $42,500 |
| Boston | 59.8% | $159,000 | $66,500 | 108.3 | $61,500 |
| Dallas | 26.1% | $132,000 | $51,500 | 103.1 | $50,000 |
Compare any metro areas side by side
Download this data
Free to use with credit: Second Summit, October 2026. Data (CSV) · Data (JSON) · paycheck power chart (SVG) · posted vs official chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
Related pages
- Metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- State: District of Columbia
- Compare the metro area with others
Where its metro area ranks
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in Washington. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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